"Fargo" (1996) Directed by The Coen Brothers

“Oh he’s a little guy. Kinda funny lookin’”.

The film’s opening slide sets the premise for this all time classic Coen Brothers film and spawned numerous conspiracy theories and tall tales along the way as on release in 1996 there were continual reports of people going to specific locations in search of a buried suitcase full of money!

From the “This is a true story…” disclaimer the film follows a three Act structure with the first Act brilliantly portraying a desperate man deeply in debt, approaching two travelling criminals to kidnap his wife, a kidnap that turns into a horrific and graphic triple murder, and the beginning to one of the greatest films of all time. Set in Fargo and Brainerd, North Dakota, this 98 minute film has everything and relies on a common Coen Brothers theme of a simple plan going wrong. Very, very wrong. Deeply and darkly comedic, the majority of the main characters from a surprisingly small overall cast of just 38 actors are immediately introduced in the first Act:

“Jerry Lundegaard” (William H Macy) Deeply in debt, bumbling and bungling, with a permanent fixed fake smile across his face, Jerry is brilliantly brought to the screen by William H Macy, with Macy again showing what a versatile, excellent and comedic actor he is. He brings the character to life expertly and his descent into darkness is near perfection. Forever on the fringes of life, this permeates through his family, work and every facet of his life as he continues to try and cover up the grisly and unwanted murder of his wife. A performance that will resonate with more of us than will admit to it and a performance befitting of his Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

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The above opening paragraphs are taken from my original spoiler free review of "Fargo" penned and published over a decade ago, transferred to my Medium blog site and which can now be read in full and for free via my Substack blog site and original updated article linked immediately below. I've also linked my original opus blog article on the entire career of the Coen Brothers below too:

https://ramblingmusings666.substack.com/p/fargo-1996-abcd688bb187

https://medium.com/@stephenblackford561/the-world-according-to-the-coen-brothers-f033b11d957d

This spoiler free review is also integral to volume 2 of my 7 volume series of "essential film reviews collection". Currently only available in e-book form on Amazon and priced at £4.99 per volume, should you have an Amazon Kindle "Unlimited" package you can read each and every exhaustive volume of multiple film reviews for free:

Volume 2

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C4J1S1TL

All 7 Volume Series

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C4HZSTTH?binding=kindle_edition&ref=dbs_dp_rwt_sb_pc_tukn

https://www.patreon.com/TheBlackfordBookClub
https://www.paypal.me/TheBlackfordBookClub
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/steveblackford

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