Fargo (1996)
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.
Average Rating: 7.6/10
Critic Reviews: 22
Fresh: 19 | Rotten: 3
Violent, quirky, and darkly funny, Fargo delivers an original crime story and a wonderful performance by McDormand.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.9/5
User Ratings: 224,641
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
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Cast
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Frances McDormand
Marge Gunderson -
William H. Macy
Jerry Lundegaard -
Steve Buscemi
Carl Showalter -
Peter Stormare
Gaear Grimsrud -
Harve Presnell
Wade Gustafson -
John Carroll Lynch
Norm Gunderson -
Kristin Rudrud
Jean Lundegaard -
Larry Brandenburg
Stan Grossman -
Stephen Park
Mike Yanagita -
Bruce Campbell
Soap Opera Star on T... -
Gary Houston
Irate Customer -
Warren Keith
Reilly Diefenbach -
Steve Reevis
Shep Proudfoot -
Jose Feliciano
Himself -
Sharon Anderson
Morning Show Hostess -
Cliff Rakerd
Officer Olson -
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Fargo Trailer & Photos
All Critics (67) | Top Critics (22) | Fresh (63) | Rotten (4) | DVD (41)
Fargo is a strikingly mature, uniqueentertainment that plays on many levels ... all satisfying.
Top CriticThe Coens remain effortlessly ahead of the American field.
Gunderson (Frances McDormand) [is] the most endearing, hilarious and wholly feminine heroine since Thelma or Louise.
Chief Gunderson was created by the Coens specifically for Frances McDormand ... and they've been rewarded by a brilliant and unblinking comic performance.
Like every other critic I'm aware of, I loved this movie.
With Fargo, Joel and Ethan Coen return to the glory days of 1987 and Raising Arizona.
Dark, gritty, and brilliant. Not for kids.
"Fargo" is the kind of black comedy you can rediscover over and over again. The laughs and shocks never fade.
Quite simply, Fargo is the best movie the Coen Brothers have ever made. And that's saying a lot.
The most complete film the Coens have ever made, it's nothing short of a movie for the ages.
The Coen Brothers have always loved to go far, a tactic they don't forgo in Fargo. [Blu-ray]
Do you have to be a Minnesotan to really get Fargo?
The best movie heroine in years.
This may be the warmest movie the Coen brothers have ever made.
[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.
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.
One of the more entertaining films of the 1990s.
This is a near brilliant/near masterpiece (if not an outright masterpiece).
It's good storytelling ... hilarious, disturbing, tragic, and hopeful. But it's not for the squeamish.
An odd, intriguing, and entertaining film.
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.
For all its blood, the movie contains large doses of humor and not a little sweetness and hope.
[The Coen brothers'] very best film, crammed with memorable characters and quotable dialogue.
Thank you, brothers Coen. You have renewed my faith in the serious talent who cannot be lured into the pecuniary heavens of Hollywood.
Audience Reviews for Fargo
Super Reviewer
If you still didnt't understand why i gave this film the rating it got, please visit the link below:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/user/935623/blogs/?id=703501
Super Reviewer
Movies Like Fargo
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- Marge Gunderson: Hiya, Lou. Whoo! What ya got there?
- Officer Olson: Margie, thought you might need a little warm-up.
- Marge Gunderson: Thanks a bunch. So, what's the deal? Gary says triple homicide.
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- Gaear Grimsrud: You'll take care of it. Boy, you a smooth smooth, you know.
- Carl Showalter: Whoa, Daddy.
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- Carl Showalter: You should see the over guy!
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- Jerry Lundegaard: I'm, uh, Jerry Lundegaard.
- Carl Showalter: You're Jerry Lundegaard?
- Jerry Lundegaard: Ya. Shep Proudfoot said...
- Carl Showalter: Shep said you'd be here at 7:30. What gives, man?
- Jerry Lundegaard: Shep said 8:30.
- Carl Showalter: We've been sitting here an hour. He's [motioning to Gaer] peed three times already.
- Jerry Lundegaard: I'm sure sorry. Shep told me 8:30. It was a mix-up, I guess.
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- Mike Yanagita: I liked you so much! You're such a super lady!
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- Marge Gunderson: No, I - Mike - wyncha sit over there, I'd prefer that.
- Mike Yanagita: Huh? Oh, okay, I'm sorry.
- Marge Gunderson: No, just so I can see ya, ya know. Don't have to turn my neck.
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Set around Minnesota and North Dakota in the winter of 1987, this film both embraces and satirizes the Minnesota upbringing of its writers/producers/directors.
William H. Macy is Jerry Lundegaard- a sad sack ineffectual car salesman who is hard up for money. His wife and her dad (Jerry's boss) are both well off, but, even if they knew he needed the money, they probably wouldn't give it to him anyway, His solution is to enlist a criminal version of the odd couple (chatter box Steve Buscemi, and silent psycho Peter Stormare) to kidnap Jerry's wife, then use the ransom as payment for both them and himself.
Things get complex, and especially messy when the plan doesn't go as designed, and blood becomes shed. To make things even more interesting, small town sheriff Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) gets thrown into the mix, and her down to Earth, smart approach really adds layers of warmth and heart, made even more poignant by the fact that she's also 7 months pregnant.
There's already been so much written about this, that I really don't have anything new to contribute. It holds up to its reputation, and is a real masterpiece of writing, direction, and acting. I can't really describe it: everything just clicks, and there's a nice balance to the laughs and bloodshed. The characters and themes are interesting and thought provoking, and come on, Marge Gunderson is undeniably one of the coolest and greatest characters ever created. I'm so happy this film nabbed the Bros. Coen a writing Oscar, as well as one for McDormand's superb acting. It's a shame.
Like all Coen Brothers films, the cinematography and music are brilliant, and, while complex, the film is really fairly easy to follow. It's a shame this lost Best Picture to The English Patient, because this was the film that deserved it more.
Bottom line: this is a must see, and its place on all the various types of best of lists is absolutely justified. Truly a great American classic.