One of the Coen Brothers' best films

Rating: 8/10 (21 June 2017)

The first time viewers were introduced to the strange crime and comedy of Fargo, North Dakota comes from the Coen brothers' brilliant drama. The "true" story begins in 1987 with Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy) hiring two criminals, Carl Showalter (Steve Buscemi) and Gaear Grimsrud (Peter Stormare) to kidnap his wife. Jerry is trying to get his father Wade Gustafson (Harve Presnell) who has a lot of money to pay for a car lot. When Wade agrees to help Jerry out, Jerry tries to stop the wheels from turning on this crime. The two criminals are shown to be very odd, debating over pancakes and having women in the bed right next to each other. This quirkiness is not only a funny aspect of many Coen brothers films but continues in the television show.
The criminals break in and kidnap Jerry's wife just as Jerry learns that Wade and his business partners will only give him a finder's fee for his new lot. Carl and Gaear are pulled over by an honest cop who refuses to take a bribe and hears the woman's crying so Gaear shoots him in the head. While Carl disposes of the cop's body, Gaear hunts down pedestrians who see the crime and try to escape. Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) gets the call to investigate the murders. Since she's pregnant, she almost barfed at the crime scene. As Marge investigates the scene, Jerry works to cover up his crime and keep the police out of it.
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