Fargo (1996)

	Directed by: Joel Coen	COUNTRY USA Genre Crime/Comedy NORWEGIAN TITLE Fargo RUNNING TIME 95 minutes
	Produced by: Ethan Coen
	Written by: 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 inspired by Quentin Tarantino's rejuvenation of the crime genre 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 here is among the funniest the Coens have ever penned.