Considering how much of the Coen brothers’ output we’ve watched over the years, it’s a bit odd that we’ve never watched Fargo, a film that was critical in establishing their reputation. Given that this has recently been in the news again due to the success of the television series based on it, this feels like a good time to watch it. As with many of the brothers’ films, it stars many of the usual cast they like to work with including Joel Coen’s wife Frances McDormand in the lead role as the local police chief Marge Gunderson.
Car salesman Jerry Lundegaard hires a pair to criminals to kidnap his own wife, knowing that her wealthy father will pay the ransom. Unfortunately the kidnappers turn out to be just as incompetent as he is when their getaway car is accosted by a state trooper and they resort to murdering multiple people to escape. As the murders take place within the tiny town of Brainerd, Gunderson takes charge of the investigation. Meanwhile, Lundegaard’s previous scams start catching up with him and he becomes increasingly desperate to get hold the money despite his father-in-law’s lack of trust in him.
The brothers chose to preface the film with a message saying that it’s based on a true story. This has since been proven to be false so the intention of the message seems to have been to make it easier for audience to accept a series of preposterous events. In truth this seems hardly necessary as the premise isn’t as ridiculous as many other movies and the criminals prove so inept that there’s never any doubt about whether or not they’ll get away with it. Steve Buscemi plays his usual asshole of a character that he has perfected since Reservoir Dogs while William Macy behaves so suspiciously that you wonder why everyone doesn’t automatically call the cops on him. Peter Stormare has almost no lines as one of the two kidnappers as his job is to look menacing and occasionally glance contemptuously at Buscemi.
McDormand at least plays an entertainingly novel character. Her character Gunderson takes such a laid back approach that you’re primed to believe that the cops will be just as ineffective as the criminals but she turns out to be quite good at her job. Arguably, it’s her as well as the setting of Minnesota around her that are the real stars of the show. Their habit of nodding their heads while speaking and liberal use of the word “Yah!” in their heavily-accented conversation supplies most of the comedy. The depiction of Gunderson’s homey marriage is affecting and the down-to-earthness of her personality cements the pointless stupidity of the lengths the criminals go to just to earn a little bit of money.
In the end, while I quite enjoyed the film for what it is I’m not sure it’s as great as its reputation makes it out to be. One reason may be that I’ve watched quite a few comedy crime films already with the same absurdist themes. Examples include Guy Ritchie’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Martin McDonagh’s In Bruges. Fargo may predate both of these but it isn’t clear to me that it’s outstandingly superior.