Fargo

Fargo (1996)

Runtime: 98 minutes

Directed by: The Coen Brothers

Starring: William H. Macy, Frances McDormand, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare, Harve Presnell

From: Polygram

Many will vehemently disagree w/ my opinion, but I did not really enjoy this... you betcha.

In the past I've mentioned how I don't love the brothers Coen like every other movie fan does. I've only seen a few and while not all have been talked about on Letterboxd, the dramas have been enjoyable while the comedies haven't been that funny to me aside from sporadic laughs. Fargo was only seen by me for the first time on Thursday night as I was never interested and I was hoping it wouldn't be a condescending look at the people of the Upper Midwest... and I know the Coen Brothers are from Minnesota.

I did go into this w/ an open mind and I can't complain too much about the first half hour as the pieces are put into place of William H. Macy having his wife be kidnapped in a fake scheme to get money from his rich father in law (they have an adversarial relationship with each other) and two buffoons do the task so things go awry. It was dumb when we saw that the couple's typical teen son actually played the accordion but once Frances McDormand's pregnant sheriff character entered the picture, it was nonstop condescending smug putdowns of how Upper Midwest people have a “funny” accent, talk like squares and say “yeah” constantly. That usually garnered irritation rather than knee-slapping laughs.

As the kidnapping plot quickly become boring and uninteresting, the “humor” made the movie a real slog to get through. And what in the blue hell was even the point of that Mike Yanagita subplot? The reasons why I can even say this was average instead of a worse rating: the Roger Deakins cinematography, the main cast trying their hardest (specifically Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare as the bumbling kidnappers) and the woodchipper factoring into the plot. Otherwise, I honestly don't get why every other movie fan thinks this is excellent and hilarious. There's another comedy of theirs which hasn't been reviewed here as I only saw it more than 15 years ago but I know that would make people even angrier with my opinion than they will with my non-love of Fargo... that is if my opinion doesn't change from a second viewing sometime in the future.

Whether it was a positive or not, seeing this did remind me of my youth growing up in the northern half of Illinois-not Chicago nor the suburbs-as Jerry's Oldsmobile dealership brought back memories of my first being being a “hip” 1988 Oldsmobile station wagon... also unforgettable are the mornings or evenings having to scrape ice off my windshield. What I know is negative is that I don't have positive feelings on Fargo; at least I am enough of a nerd to notice there have only been a few 1996 pictures reviewed by me here so that helped fill the hole... if only something more amiable could have been experienced instead.