the fresh films reviews

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Fargo (1996)

Director:
Joel Coen

COUNTRY
USA

Genre
Crime/Comedy

NORWEGIAN TITLE
Fargo

RUNNING TIME
95 minutes

Producer:
Ethan Coen
Screenwriter:
Joel Coen
Ethan Coen


Cast includes:

CHARACTER ACTOR/ACTRESS RATING
Marge Gunderson Frances McDormand ½
Jerry Lundegaard William H. Macy ½
Carl Showalter Steve Buscemi
Gaear Grimsrud Peter Stormare
Wade Gustafson Harve Presnell -
Jean Lundegaard Kristin Rudrud -
Scotty Lundegaard Tony Denman -
Norm Gunderson John Carroll Lynch

 

Review

In this distinctive crime-movie set in "Norwegian country", specifically Fargo, North Dakota, the Coen brothers toy with genre conventions, dialects and some idiosyncratic archetypes. They look to have been at least a little bit inspired by Quentin Tarantino's rejuvenation of the crime genre as of late, but this is certainly more Coenesque than Tarantinoesque. The odd cast of characters, headed by a wonderful Frances McDormand, are portrayed as gullible and anti-cool, like the antithesis to Travolta/Jackson in Pulp Fiction, and you can't help loving them for their simple, optimistic outlook on life. Plus, the dialogue in here is among the funniest the Coens have ever penned.

Copyright © 27.3.1997 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang
(English version: © 30.03.2021 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang)