In short, the stupidity of the movie is so overwhelmingly enjoyable that it makes the movie not only watchable but enjoyable. This is possible because the old man is loaded. Everything goes as planned until Carl and Gaear are stopped by a policeman on the road from Fargo to Minneapolis. They're forced to kill the trooper, which attracts the attention of Marge Gunderson, an average looking policewoman from Brainerd. The story takes off from there, and it's nothing horribly original in the thematic sense.
Desperate men pursue desperate plans by desperate means, to their own pathetic, desperate demises.
Entirely reminscient of Elwood Blues in Blues Brothers , this singsong style of talk makes every character seem a bit more goofy than they actually are. In this way Fargo grows close to parody, but as the viewer accepts the cast, it becomes less ubiquitous and more integrated. The acting isn't outstanding here, although each player makes his or her role entirely believable. Steve Buscemi, usually perfect for the off-kilterness that he brings to characters, does well here. A lot of the other characters have real substance as well, but nothing particularly outstanding.