4.5/5
Reviewed October 17, 2022
One of the earliest Coen brothers movies is a dark crime drama about a salesman who hires thugs to kidnap his wife; things go south, and an unassuming pregnant police chief starts working the case. It’s…pretty dang good, having been nominated for SEVEN Oscars and winning two (Best Actress, Best Original Screenplay). It’s one of the bleakest and yet most beautifully shot films I’ve ever seen, the acting is incredible, the script is great, and the direction is fantastic. Introduced a lot of the country to the concept of Minnesota nice and the mannerisms that entails, both in a positive and negative way.
The Bad:
-Honestly, as a current resident of the Minneapolis area, the heavy accents all the “locals” had threw me for a loop because I’ve only rarely encountered thick accents in this part of the state. The directors are from a suburb 2 towns away from me, so they knew all the mannerisms well, but it didn’t really fit the big city.
-Many of the characters are straight up insufferable, which is a strong choice for the film, but it took me out of it in a few places; they did the same exact thing in No Country For Old Men, which is similarly acclaimed and which I had similar issues with. While these characters may seem real, it’s not always fun to see so many at once. Minor nitpick.
-For such a smart character (sort of, more on that later), Jerry’s obliviousness to how such a criminal enterprise could go south is hilariously rough. I will say they did a great job setting up his failings in the very first scene at the bar, where there’s an issue with the meeting time.
The Good:
-Let’s talking acting, considering Frances McDormand won Best Actress for her fabulous portrayal as the viciously smart – but very misleadingly mild-mannered Sheriff Gunderson. She ranges from totally reserved, non-chalant Midwestern woman to genius detective and back within seconds – the triple homicide scene shows that for the character, and Frances delivers it powerfully to the point you almost don’t realize what’s happening. At the same time, she has these perfectly “normal” and yet heartwarming domestic scenes with her husband, stuff that is totally believable if you’ve seen an older Midwestern couple. You don’t see this particular kind of representation often, and it felt like the local boys nailed the writing.
-Supporting cast was great. William H Macy was nominated for supporting actor; his character was also intelligent, but naive and clumsy and easily overpowered by forceful personalities. He had multiple schemes going on, as shown by defrauding the car customers, clearly committing fraud with cars for a loan, the entire kidnapping scheme where he was going to keep 960k of the ransom for himself, and even the initial idea for the parking lot deal. But he was outmaneuvered at every turn, with his misdeeds finally catching up to him at the end.
-Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare (this film was his US big break, so thank goodness for that) did a great job as two thugs doing the kidnapping. They clearly disliked each other but were in it for the money, and Carl’s escalating missteps push the plot and eventually lead to his demise at the hands of the coldest, truest psycho – Gaear, who is totally shades of what later is done in No Country for Old Men.
-The dialogue was annoyingly believable with the Minnesota nice, and they even used a book, “How to Speak Minnesotan”, which….I may have a copy of. But the film both skewers the dialect with some of the honestly nonsensical styles of small talk, but also shows how it’s able to hide devious or sly intents of the speaker.
-The film has a lot of wild violence and psychopathic behavior totally sprinkled in with the most mundane things, like the two thugs banging random hookers but the four of them laying in bed watching TV afterwards.
-The sets and houses were SO late 80s/early 90s decor; I grew up with a TV set similar to one shown at one point, and the wood paneling brought back many flashbacks.
-The cinematography is incredible. The bleak landscapes of winter (not filmed in Fargo or even really in Brainerd due to snow issues) really drive home the remoteness of the region (or at least how it feels sometimes). The use of lighting in some of the shots, especially the triple homicide sequences being lit by headlights, were inspired.
-Theme music was just…spot on.
-So the whole sequence of the former friend meeting up with and trying to get with Marge seems really strange and out of place, but to me it made sense in that this dude was clearly in a bad way and lies like crazy to try to hook up with a very pregnant Marge, and it leads her to realize Jerry was also acting and lying similarly. It’s still a super awkward sequence, don’t get me wrong, but I can see why it’s in; I’ve heard a lot of folks hate that scene.
-Watching someone take their frustrations out by abusing an ice scraper is a pretty normal occurrence in northern climates
-I have had that exact same frustration with the parking lots at MSP airport.
-The overbearing father, who clearly doesn’t like his son-in-law, forcing the issue and leading to his death, the deaths of the parking attendant and Carl, and to Jerry’s later arrest (I’d guess Jean was probably still toast from when Carl was gone).
-The dang woodchipper sequence. It was honestly shocking Gaear didn’t die via gunshot or falling through the ice or some trope like that, so that was pleasant to see too – a cop not shooting to kill a fleeing suspect.
……………………………………………….
Yeah, this was pretty dope, all things considered. Very unusual look at some parts of Midwestern life, but considering it was “locals” who wrote and directed it, they did a dang good job with the portrayals.
Getting Reel with Mr. Sunshine 