The Coen Brothers strike gold!

Rating: 10/10 (18 January 2002)

Anyone who's seen "Fargo" has experienced something they've never experienced before. The Coens are back and they're better than ever!
Frances McDormand plays Marge Gunderson, a pregnant police woman who becomes enthralled in a scandalous kidnapping/murder case involving swindling used car dealer Jerry Lundegaard, who's hiring two buffoons to kidnap his wife so her father will cough up a large ransom.
What's so surprising about this film is that it's funny while it's suspenseful. The scenes with the kidnappers have strong language and violence and are usually serious while the scenes with Marge and her husband are quite humorous.
I was captivated right at the beginning when I purchased the DVD. It opens to a black screen with white lettering stating that the following film is a true story. Out of respect for the dead, some of the names have been changed. Entirely engrossing but yet entirely not true.
Director Joel Coen said later that if you know that the movie is based on actual events, they'll believe anything on the screen, even if it's totally unrealistic.
There are so many scenes that are ingenious: the infamous woodchipper scene, Marge and her accomplice Lou discussing the dealer plates on the murderer's car, Marge cracking a joke about a guy changing his name to "J37-2404," and more.
Anyone and everyone should see "Fargo" some time in their life, whether it be on television or video, see it! It's extremely inventive, hilarious, and still manages to be gratuitously violent.
NOTE: When Buscemi is pulling the dead body of the cop after shooting him in the head and the car's headlights are seen getting closer and closer in the distance, this must be a reference to the Coen's first film "Blood Simple" in which there's a similar scene.