A kidnapping caper that goes criminally bad

Rating: 10/10 (19 January 2007)

Any film made by the Coen brothers is worth a look. They have that rare talent among American filmmakers where their movies speak in a singular voice, something that makes their work fresh and original, even when they utilise familiar plot lines. And in the case of Fargo, they take the standard story of a kidnapping plot, inhabit it with some extraordinarily memorable characters, and direct it to such an engaging degree it becomes a modern classic.
I didn't always like Fargo. The unique and offbeat style of the Coens doesn't always lend itself easily to a storytelling narrative. And on my first viewing of Fargo, I was left very puzzled by the film. I couldn't quite grasp it, because of the way it contrasts light humour with some very black overtones. I found it to be a very overrated film.
But there was something about Fargo that remained ticking in the back of my mind. And I decided to give it another whirl one night. And a funny thing happened. I really started getting into it. I found myself cracking up at the strangest things. The way it was directed impressed me, and by the end, I'd fallen in love with the film.
Fargo makes use of a staple of film-making that has cropped up over the last 50 years. The kidnapping plot. But this being a Coen brothers film, you know beforehand things won't unfold in the traditional scheme of things. Kidnapping plots seldom turn out the way they're supposed to on film. Otherwise there would be no interest. But in the hands of the Coens, Fargo proceeds at such a bizarre pace, this plot goes horribly wrong in the most spectacular way imaginable. And then some.
Jerry Lundegaard (a suitably loserish William H Macy) walks into a bar an hour late to meet with two lowlifes, Carl and Gaear, to discuss a proposition. He needs his wife kidnapped, who is the daughter of Jerry's boss Wade Gustafson (Harve Presnell). Jerry is on the verge of bankruptcy after an insurance swindle went bad, so he figures another swindle will get him out of this jam. Jerry will claim Carl & Gaear demanded $80,000 in ransom, and when Wade pays up, Jerry takes the amount he needs to pay off his debts.
But Jerry is not the sharpest pencil in the box. Since he's not a particularly good salesman, it means he's not a particularly good judge of character. Otherwise his instincts would have told him that Carl & Gaear are not expert kidnappers. And when they end up killing a state trooper and two innocent passersby, its just the beginning of an escalating body count and a fiasco of monumental proportions.
The first half hour carefully sets up the events. The plot. The kidnapping. The accidental murders. All set against the frigid backdrop of Fargo. Its at this point it introduces the film's best character, Marge Gunderson (a wonderful performance by Frances McDormand), the local police chief. A 7 months pregnant waddling ball of cheery chirpiness, its up to her to unravel the mystery and close the book on it.
McDormand captures the attention from the second she arrives. You couldn't imagine the film without her, which is why the first 30 minutes seem like they're just waiting for her to turn up, and when she does, all of the plot strands seen beforehand finally click into place.
McDormand plays Marge very deceptively. At first glance, she appears as a smalltown hick, forced to move up into the big leagues when these triple murders come her way. She gives the impression that with her Midwestern drawl she's a little slow on the uptake. And because her acting is so good, I actually bought into that. But she gradually reveals to us that her mind is as sharp as a tack. She correctly intuits the chain of events that eventually lead her back to Jerry.
I love the scenes when she questions Jerry. Watch the way she fixes him with her penetrating stare, a big smile on her face that betrays none of her true emotions. Her deceptively pleasant demeanour wears down Jerry's resolve, until he's practically ready to confess everything. Sort of like Columbo. Only of the pregnant variety. Marge should get her own TV show.
All of the cast give excellent performances. In a part Macy was born to play, he gives an impeccably controlled response to what is (in his mind) the perfect plan gradually unravelling around him. And Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare are superb as the chalk and cheese scumbags who make a complete hash of the plan. The Coen's typical black comic approach is prevalent in their scenes. You won't forget the wood chipper scene in a hurry.
The ending is a surprisingly moving one. Not to mention philosophical. And its McDormand's character who provides that emotional key at the end. She sums up the entirety of the plot in just a few sentences, that really left me breathless. Fargo is by far the Coen brothers most intelligent and well rounded work. Its not often that you can call a film that clocks in at 90 minutes a modern classic. Fargo is such a film.