Fargo (Special Edition)
Submitted by Reviewer (not verified) on 4 October, 2005 - 23:58.
Movie Reviews
| MGM (Video & DVD): Fargo (Special Edition) |
|---|
| Made | MGM (Video & DVD) | | Date | 2003-09-30 | | Media | DVD | | Catalog | DVD | | Sales Rank | 274 | | Audience Rating | R (Restricted) | | Director | Array | | Theatrical Release Date | 1996-03-08 | | Availability | Usually ships in 24 hours | | List Price | US$14.94 | | Our Price* | US$6.99 |
*Price subject to change |  |
|
Reviews:| Rating 4.0/5 from 347 reviews | | Negative DVD reviews are fun to read | | Rating: 5/5 (2 out of 7 think this is helpful) 2006-06-30 | | I like to read the negative DVD reviews, because why did you buy the DVD if you did not like it? | | Yah ... | | Rating: 5/5 (1 out of 3 think this is helpful) 2006-06-23 | I give this movie 4 stars and a half, or 8,5/10 points. This movie is among the Best 100 American movies of all times (filmsite.org, position 84 to be more precise), and it is among the 1000 Best Movies on DVD by Peter Travers. Its critical and box-office success also came with seven Academy Awards nominations, including Best Supporting Actor (William H. Macy), Best Cinematography (Roger Deakins, The Shawshank Redemption), Best Director (Joel Coen), Best Film Editing (alias Roderick Jaynes, actually the Coens), and Best Picture (Ethan Coen). The film's two well-deserved Oscars were for Best Original Screenplay (Joel and Ethan Coen), and Best Actress (Frances McDormand, Joel Coen's real-life wife).
The movie is rated R for violence and this Special Edition comes with a great new documentary "Minnesota Nice", plus interview with the Coen Brothers and McDormand. Also an audio commentary by director of photography Roger A. Deakins. I'd had preferred a commentary by the Coen brothers, but since photography plays a big role on the movie, it is just fine.
The movie is a really good thriller based on a "true" story. There are dark humour scenes here and there, like when the kidnapped wife tries to run away, or the interview McDormand has with two [...]. People from Minesotta took the movie as insulting, since their peculiar accent is perfectly well imitated, but that was just trying to be as close as the reality as possible. I find the character of McDormand really funny, saying, overall, about 100 stupid "Yah". The characters of Buscemi and Presnell are just terrific as well, and the only one I did not like is the wife. I still can't figure out why she needs to be so freaking nervous all the time.
Overall, a great movie, not to be missed, that should be in every DVD collection. | | Blood Has Been Shed, Jerry. | | Rating: 4/5 2006-05-22 | Fargo is deemed by several to be Joel and Ethan Coen's crowning achievement. Winner of two Oscars (Best Screenplay and Best Actress) as well as a BAFTA, Fargo is established as somewhat of a classic. If Roger Ebert considers it one of the "Great Movies" then it has to be miraculous; hint my sarcasm. Genuinely, even though the picture is notable in its genre I don't believe it's one of cinema's optimum.
The film is classified as a neo-noir and is rightly complete with suspense and dark humor. As far as amusement goes, Fargo thrives wonderfully as such. It is an intricate tale of the "perfect" crime gone dreadfully wrong. The picture can almost be perceived as a delve into a false reality. Our protagonist, Marge Gunderson, is constantly facing predicaments she believes she understands but discovers to be tangled in lies, her only safe-haven being her husband. The film also involves irony with the seven-month pregnant officer bringing the "professional" criminals to justice.
The direction from Joel Coen complements the film quite justly. His wonderful incorporation of the snowy-white barren fields of Minnesota is in reality alot more compelling than lifeless and dull as one might expect. However, without the looming score that dreariness would most likely still be present. It was particularly effective and memorable. Joel Coen also conducts the movements and appropriate camera placements masterfully.
Many claim the film's acting is just as strong as the elaborate narrative, and Frances McDormand proves the statement true. Her heavy midwestern accent and all make her the film's finest performer. Her naivety and quirkiness allows viewers to connect with her character within minutes. The Oscar is appropriately deserved. Steve Buscemi gives McDormand a run for her money with his notable portrayal as the "funny-looking" guy aka Carl. William H. Macy threatened the Coen's if he did not receive the role of Jerry, and he certainly gives an admirable performance.
Overall, Fargo is a quirky film that works as sheer entertainment. | | Another Jewel from the Coen Brothers | | Rating: 5/5 (5 out of 5 think this is helpful) 2006-04-25 | This movie opens with the words "This is a true story. The events depicted in this film took place in Minnesota in 1987. At the request of the survivors, the names have been changed. Out of respect for the dead, the rest has been told exactly as it occurred." I never challenged these words, but apparently no such incidents as depicted in this film ever occurred. The movie plays out quite believably - A middle-class car salesman gets in over his head financially by embezzling from his employer, thinking that the business deals he is making with the money will allow him to replace the stolen goods before he is detected. When his schemes don't pan out he must find a way to replace the money. The salesman's father-in-law is wealthy but distant and indifferent towards him, so he hatches a plan to fake his wife's kidnapping with the help of two felons he doesn't know at all who are "vouched for" by an ex-con mechanic that works at the same dealership he works for. He figures his father-in-law will pay the ransom, he'll split it with the felons, and his problems will be solved. This is not to be the case. It turns out that these felons are more violent and uncontrollable than the salesman counted on, and they leave quite a body count that in the end includes the salesman's wife, his father-in-law, and several innocent bystanders. Also, in another clever twist, what becomes of the ransom money over which so many greedy people in the film have fought and died is quite ironic to say the least. Although I wouldn't exactly say we read this story in the paper everyday, we all have read something similar - someone who has lived an ordinary life for several decades suddenly gets tempted into some criminal activity that quickly escalates out of control.
The person who unravels the mystery of the crimes is the most unstereotypical of police officers - Marge Gunderson. She is the extremely pregnant chief of police in the small town where the first murders occur, and her combination of brains and folksy charm masterfully handle witnesses and trace the crime back to the car salesman and his dealership.
I've never been to Minnesota, but if the Coens' rendition of that state and its people was as spot-on as their parody of the American southwest in "Raising Arizona", then they have really done their research. I highly recommend it. | | a classic, but not for everyone | | Rating: 5/5 (2 out of 3 think this is helpful) 2006-03-27 | I love this movie, and I'm not even a Coen fan. Some of the humor is very offbeat and/or subtle, so it's not for everyone (people either seem to love it or hate it ~ I've never heard a neutral reaction to the film).
Ivan Rorick |
Editorials:Amazon.com essential videoLeave it to the wildly inventive Coen brothers (Joel directs, Ethan produces, they both write) to concoct a fiendishly clever kidnap caper that's simultaneously a comedy of errors, a Midwestern satire, a taut suspense thriller, and a violent tale of criminal misfortune. It all begins when a hapless car salesman (played to perfection by William H. Macy) ineptly orchestrates the kidnapping of his own wife. The plan goes horribly awry in the hands of bumbling bad guys Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare (one of them being described by a local girl as "kinda funny lookin'" and "not circumcised"), and the pregnant sheriff of Brainerd, Minnesota (played exquisitely by Frances McDormand in an Oscar-winning role) is suddenly faced with a case of multiple murders. Her investigation is laced with offbeat observations about life in the rural hinterland of Minnesota and North Dakota, and Fargo embraces its local yokels with affectionate humor. At times shocking and hilarious, Fargo is utterly unique and distinctly American, bearing the unmistakable stamp of its inspired creators. --Jeff Shannon
|
