Doesn't even crack the Coens' top three

Rating: 7/10 (20 August 2001)

Fargo is a very overrated movie.
I've seen Blood simple, Raising Arizona, The Big Lebowski, and now Fargo, and I have to say, the first three win big over the last. What I like most about Coen movies is the originality - look at the crazy biker guy in Arizona, or the climax in blood simple, or the the entire movie in Lebowski. Their movies are stunning and ahead of their time.
Fargo, on the other hand, is not. In fact, the script lies down so flat it's hard to believe that someone actually made this movie... it simply didn't need to be made. I have to give credit for poking fun at the north midwest - I was born in North Dakota and moved to Rochester, Minnesota and then St. Paul before heading East - but that just doesn't make this a good movie.
The premise (guy hires thugs to kidnap his wife and he gets the ransom) isn't original. The criminal hi-jinks (kidnappers shoot everybody and anybody in their way) certainly aren't original. And please, Frances McDormand's character might just be the biggest cliche in the entire movie. Good cop gets the bad guys in the end. There wasn't even any suspense, nothing went wrong... most of the entire movie was predictable. And even though McDormand delivers a fine, fine performance, she's only in the movie for fifty minutes or so!
The Coens' unmistakable touches on the film are what save it for me. The humor, the accents, the situational irony are superb. But they can't save the plot, which is just too ordinary.
Overall a 6.5 or 7 out of ten, for fine cinematography, a very good score, the realistic accents, and the great ensemble acting. And any movie with William H. Macy in it deserves a good rating, IMO.