One of the best of the best of the best

Rating: Null/10 (19 July 2002)

The Coen brothers are some of my all time favorite directors (along with Christopher Nolan, M. Night. Shyamalan and Christopher Guest). All of their movies are comical and original and in many ways, strange. Fargo is arguably one of the neatest films they have ever made.
Here's the synopsis (Warning: spoilers): Jerry Lubdergaard (William H. Macy) is a car salesman in debt. He needs the money but his wife's (Kristin Gudrud) father (Harve Presnell) has it and won't give it to him. So he comes up with a clever plan, also a dangerous one, to hire two guys, Carl (Steve Buscemi) and Gaear (Peter Stormare) to kidnap his wife. That way he can get the ransom money from the father-in-law, keep half of it, give the other half to the kidnappers, and pay off his debts. It goes well until Gaear shoots a state trooper near Brainerd (as well as two people who witnessed it) and are now being chased by policewoman Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand).
Throughout the entire film it is dramatic yet oddly hysterical in places people might not consider funny. Gaear casually chasing and killing Carl with the ax, beforehand adjusting his hat in the freezing North Dakotan weather. When they arrest Jerry after he flees from the Twin Cities. When Marge captures Gaear and tells him in the car "There's more to life than money y'know? Didn't you know that?" The ending is very realistic. In a way it is miserable (at least for some of the characters) but in a way it is happy.
This film is beautifully shot (for anyone who has ever driven across North Dakota in any kind of weather, it does feel like you are in the middle of nowhere) and the musical score was excellent. The casting was superb (Frances McDormand rightfully deserved that Oscar). I give it a 10 out of 10. And if you liked this, rent the Big Lebowsky; it is just as good.