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Fargo (1996)

tomatometer

94

Average Rating: 8.4/10
Reviews Counted: 67
Fresh: 63 | Rotten: 4

Violent, quirky, and darkly funny, Fargo delivers an original crime story and a wonderful performance by McDormand.

86

Average Rating: 7.6/10
Critic Reviews: 21
Fresh: 18 | Rotten: 3

Violent, quirky, and darkly funny, Fargo delivers an original crime story and a wonderful performance by McDormand.

audience

91

liked it
Average Rating: 3.9/5
User Ratings: 193,104

My Rating

Movie Info

Filmmaking siblings Joel Coen and Ethan Coen both embraced and poked satirical fun at their Minnesotan roots with this comedy-drama-thriller that earned seven Oscar nominations, winning for Best Actress and Best Original Screenplay. Frances McDormand stars as Marge Gunderson, a pregnant police chief whose affable, folksy demeanor masks a whip-smart mind. When a pair of motorists are found slain not far from the corpse of a state trooper, Marge begins piecing together a case involving a pair of

R, 1 hr. 37 min.

Mystery & Suspense, Drama

,

Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

Jun 24, 1997

MGM

Cast

All Critics (67) | Top Critics (21) | Fresh (69) | Rotten (4) | DVD (40)

Fargo is a strikingly mature, uniqueentertainment that plays on many levels ... all satisfying.

November 6, 2007 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Gunderson (Frances McDormand) [is] the most endearing, hilarious and wholly feminine heroine since Thelma or Louise.

January 18, 2002 Comment (1)
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Chief Gunderson was created by the Coens specifically for Frances McDormand ... and they've been rewarded by a brilliant and unblinking comic performance.

February 14, 2001 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | Comment
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The danger in portraying characters you consider significantly less interesting than yourself is that too much superiority and not enough affection can lead to a fatal snottiness.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Salon.com | Comments (8)
Salon.com
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It's easy to admire what the Coens are trying to do in Fargo, but more difficult to actually like the film.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: ReelViews | Comment
ReelViews
Top Critic IconTop Critic

To watch it is to experience steadily mounting delight, as you realize the filmmakers have taken enormous risks, gotten away with them and made a movie that is completely original, and as familiar as an old shoe.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | Comment
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Dark, gritty, and brilliant. Not for kids.

December 18, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment
Common Sense Media

"Fargo" is the kind of black comedy you can rediscover over and over again. The laughs and shocks never fade.

January 17, 2010 Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | Comment
ColeSmithey.com

Quite simply, Fargo is the best movie the Coen Brothers have ever made. And that's saying a lot.

January 10, 2010 Full Review Source: 7M Pictures | Comment
7M Pictures

The most complete film the Coens have ever made, it's nothing short of a movie for the ages.

December 2, 2009 Full Review Source: Film School Rejects | Comment
Film School Rejects

The Coen Brothers have always loved to go far, a tactic they don't forgo in Fargo. [Blu-ray]

June 19, 2009 Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews | Comment (1)

Fargo is the Coens' most ice-cold satire, but also features its warmest character.

May 21, 2009 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | Comment
Slant Magazine

Do you have to be a Minnesotan to really get Fargo?

May 21, 2009 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | Comments (5)
Slant Magazine

The best movie heroine in years.

February 3, 2008 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | Comment
eFilmCritic.com

This may be the warmest movie the Coen brothers have ever made.

November 6, 2007 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | Comment
TV Guide's Movie Guide

[Marge is] a good cop because everything abnormal stands out like a stain against her white-on-white sanity.... [H]er incomprehension [of criminality] is not only her strength as a detective, it justifies the deadpan style of the movie.

September 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Blogcritics.org | Comment
Blogcritics.org

Fargo's plot and script are top-notch, but what really stands out in this film are the characters -- and the actors who play them.

September 1, 2006 Comment
Reel.com

Much less vain, flamboyant, and showy than their other pictures, Fargo bears the thematic influence of Samuel Beckett and the stylish coolness of Finland's Aki Kaurismaki, but the violence is all Coens.

June 26, 2006 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | Comment

One of the more entertaining films of the 1990s.

January 30, 2006 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | Comment (1)
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

The Coens remain effortlessly ahead of the American field.

January 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment

This is a near brilliant/near masterpiece (if not an outright masterpiece).

April 9, 2005 Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | Comment
Reeling Reviews

It's good storytelling ... hilarious, disturbing, tragic, and hopeful. But it's not for the squeamish.

January 15, 2005 Comment
Looking Closer

An odd, intriguing, and entertaining film.

January 7, 2005 Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com | Comment
TheMovieReport.com

The brothers have returned to their roots, both visually and literally. Their new film is reminiscent of their debut movie, Blood Simple, and its wry look at murder.

June 22, 2004 Full Review Source: Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY) | Comment
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Fargo

Crazy, but my lord is it entertaining. One of the best film's of the 90's.

September 24, 2011
Eric Alvarez

Super Reviewer

Again the Coen Bros do what they do best and deliver a deliciously dark black comedy. Frances McDormand has to be one of my favourite actress' and does not fail to deliver in Fargo, which is one of my faves from the Bros.

August 24, 2011
theunknownhobo
Unknown Hobo

Super Reviewer

    1. Marge Gunderson: And I guess that was your accomplice in the wood chipper?
    – Submitted by Zbigniew Z (30 days ago)
    1. Jerry Lundegaard: Ma'am, I answered your question.
    – Submitted by Benjamin W (4 months ago)
    1. Jerry Lundegaard: Yeah.
    – Submitted by Jake C (5 months ago)
    1. Jerry Lundegaard: You're darned tootin'!
    – Submitted by Stephen E (6 months ago)
    1. Marge Gunderson: Say, Lou, didya hear the one about the guy who couldn't afford personalized plates, so he went and changed his name to J3L2404?
    2. Officer Olson: Yah that's a good one.
    – Submitted by eliza h (6 months ago)

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