Fargo

Pros: Wickedly funny, yet tragic look at the American way.
Cons: You either love it, or hate it.

The Coen Brothers are a very strange pair. You gotta wonder what's going on in their heads when you see a movie like this come creeping across the frozen landscape. First of all, the subject matter is murder for hire. Add generous portions of...

Pros: The Coen Brothers' incredible script and direction. McDormand, Macy, Buscemi, Stomare, Presnell. Minnesota's wintry countryside.
Cons: Like critics of MYSTIC RIVER, some think FARGO is simply a brutal murder story.

Turning to Stephen Murray's Minnesota challenge, on this relatively balmy Valentine's Day in a San Francisco February, I contemplate not the Coen Brothers' setting for their 1996 classic FARGO, the little town of Brainerd (in Stephen's home state) but ...

Pros: Acting, script, story
Cons: Not more like it! Caution on profanity, there's plenty! Violence strong for young children.

Fargo (1996)

Brothers Joel and Ethan Coen had a hit with this plain vanilla slice-of-life from frozen North Dakota. The premise is that truth is stranger than fiction, and "Fargo" amply illustrates this.

In a cast list...

Pros: Coen Bros.' Writing/Directing/Editing, Cinematography, Tone, Score, Look, & Cast notably McDormand.
Cons: None.

Since debuting with the strange, film-noir thriller Blood Simple in 1984, Joel & Ethan Coen were becoming part of a new breed of filmmakers who work without the world of Hollywood and into their own independent vision. 1987's quirky comedy ...

Pros: The complex story, Marge's goodness, Jerry's ineptitude, the consequences for the bad guys
Cons: The brutality and crudeness and rawness

This movie is categorized at video stores as "comedy," so I guess that's what it is, and it does have some humorous moments. It also has many grisly murders, graphic wounds, graphic sex scenes, and a box of nightcrawlers. Well, back to the premise: ...

Pros: Well written, interesting characters and unusual atmosphere.
Cons: So bleak and slow.

Fargo is not one of my favorite Coen brothers' film, though I am a big fan of their impressive body of work. In fact, I didn't even enjoy Fargo during my first viewing because I felt it was, at best, a well-written but...

Pros: …
Cons: …

Jerry Lundegaard is in deep. It’s never expressly stated what he did, but it might have something to do with several cars that he may or may not have sold. (He works at a car dealership that his father-in-law owns.) GMAC is calling him about the ...

Pros: Subtleness is quite effective, fine screenplay and acting
Cons: Humor could have been stronger, parts just didn't seem like a Cohen bros. film

The Cohen brothers are easily some of the most talented film makers out there today. Starting with the excellent Blood Simple they have made a name for themselves with their odd screw ball comedies that are weird but ultimately loveable. I have only been ...

Pros: Performances, Screenplay, Photography
Cons: Violence and Gore, Sound track.

Why would anyone make a movie like this? And why would we pay money to watch it? After all we can get mundane and "screwed up" right here at home. We can get violence on the evening news. Aside from the sampling effect of stopping at every fast...

Pros: This film is funny and it will put you in suspense.
Cons: I can't think of any.

Fargo is a film by the Coen brothers. It takes place between Minnesota and Fargo, North Dakota. It is a thriller. William H. Macy plays a bumbling husband who comes up with the "brilliant" plan to hire two goons to kidnapp his wife. The ...

Pros: Ummm........it was only 1 hour 38 minutes
Cons: The entire thing, bad plot, execution, and the unearned respect of ignorant critics who like to sound smart

There is a certain law in the field of movies and films buffs that really annoys me and always has. It's the way critics will latch onto a movie for being "quirky" or "original" and all the other crazy terms they like to use when in...

Pros: The Coens' Oscar win a milestone in their legacy...
Cons: May be too violent for some audiences...

The Coens’ 2008 Oscar win for Best Picture served to enhance their legacy as one of the greatest director teams of all time. No Country For Old Men provided us with yet another moralistic tale of the American experience, much like ...

Pros: Characters / Setting / Acting / Plot / Comedy / Everything!
Cons: none

With the re-release of "Fargo" on DVD, I sat down to take in this modern classic for, sadly, only the second time. The Coen brothers, one of the many talented brother teams working in film today (Farrelly, Wachowski), have brought us great...

Pros: great performances by all actors, excellent story, well written
Cons: none; I can watch this film over and over and still find new stuff to like

Not a minute passes during this movie that I don’t find myself smiling or laughing out loud. Fargo was marketed as a “thriller,” but I find this classification a little misleading since this movie is more of an edgy, dark comedy. Whatever the case, this...

Pros: Incredible acting, plot, direction, some black humor
Cons: Violence

I can see now why the Coen brothers are such a hot commodity in the director's chair (um, chairs). The two of them both directed and wrote the movie, which has been critically acclaimed to no end since it was released in 1996, and have since risen...