What's the AFI Project, you ask? For more information, or if you just enjoy my bemused ramblings, read here: http://www.spout.com/blogs/pippin06/archive/2008/3/1/25756.aspx
Fargo is on the following AFI lists:
The Original Top 100 (#84)
100 Funniest Films (#93)
100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains (Marge Gunderson is the #33 hero)
Fargo was actually the next entry on my Netflix queue as well, which has suffered severe neglect at the hands of a surprisingly busy May schedule (just finished a run of Kiss of the Spider Woman at a local community theater) and the end of the TV season. I do love watching things...but I digress. Fargo also marks the first official movie that I haven't "revisited" to check off an AFI list. I had never seen it until just now, so that's fortuitous indeed.
Fargo is one of those films that everyone seems to love. I remember watching the actual Oscars ceremony when it earned gold for screenplay and for Best Actress Frances McDormand. It was all the rage. Of course, in my estimation, it was far more entertaining than The English Patient, which won Best Picture that year.
Still, I find myself oddly un-wowed by what I just saw. Don't get me wrong, it's a good little film with layers and levels as those wacky Coen brothers are wont to include. It's also one of the most effective minimalist undertakings I have ever laid eyes on in cinema. It's just not one of those movies that left me thinking it was the greatest thing since sliced bread, and, believe me, it's been advertised that way.
Fargo, as in North Dakota, appears but once in the movie: at the very beginning, where the viewer finds Jerry Lundergaard (William H. Macy) hiring two kidnappers, Carl and Gaear (the fabulous Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare, respectively), to kidnap his innocent, northern Minnesotan wife in exchange for extorted ransom from his wealthy father-in-law, Wade Gustavson (Harve Presnell). Jerry's in hot water for skimming off the top at Wade's car dealership and decides to have his wife kidnapped, so that he can indirectly collect the ransom and get out of trouble. Trouble is, hot-headed Carl and unstable Gaear murder a few innocent bystanders, including a state trooper, in their mishandled kidnapping. Thus, the Chief of Police of small town Brainerd, MN (home of Paul Bunyan and his blue ox), Marge Gunderson (McDormand), gets involved in the investigation and begins to piece together the clues and connections, maintaining an affable, folksy disposition while masking a whip-smart mind and skill as a police officer.
I think the reason why I didn't like this movie as much as others, including the Coens' Barton Fink, is because this (unlike others) was branded to be funny. I never found it funny. I found it quirky, wry, and openly satirical of small town, Minnesotan life, but never once did I find the need to laugh or even chuckle. O Brother Where Art Thou was funny. This was not.
Yet, the film was endearing, because the Coens walked the fence between dark (very dark) comedy and a method crime drama. All of the characters, with the possible exception of Gaear, were extremely likeable, especially ole Margie Gunderson and her waddling, pregnant, optimistic cop persona. She was by far the best and most interesting part of the movie, and McDormand deserved her Oscar, exploring a character that was equal parts Nancy Drew and Howdy Doody. I also enjoyed Steve Buscemi's Carl, which really showcased Buscemi's talent for random temper tantrums that take on lives of their own. William H. Macy played a particularly pathetic Jerry with his usual, effortless grace.
Also, I absolutely loved the score and the cinematography. Never have barren, wintry landscapes been used to as much effect. In fact, the entire filmmaking technique here, using the natural surrounds and on-location sets, was very effective. The Coens are from Minnesota, and their respect and affection for, as well as their want to laugh at, their birthplace is very resonant in the simplicity of all of it.
Still, I find myself bemused but not really in love with Fargo. Maybe I missed the train again, or maybe I waited too long to see it, creating unreasonable expectations based on hype. It should be noted, however, that Fargo is one of the films that fell off the original AFI list in favor of the revised list, so I think I'm not the only one that questions its supposed greatness. Not to say that it isn't great of its own accord, but, again, in comparison to sliced bread...
In any event, I enjoyed the movie on a basic level because I loved the layers explored in the Coens' original screenplay/story (and I loved how they called it a true story when, in fact, it is no such thing): big city problems in small towns and the not-as-naive-as-you-might-think attitudes of some of their citizens; the consequences of really bad choices made for, essentially, greed; and the need to center and focus on those little things we hold dear. I have only one gripe with Fargo: why the wood chipper?? That was simply disgusting, and we get the general drift that Gaear is unhinged, but that seemed to make an absurd leap in an out-of-place manner. Maybe I was just jarred by all that blood in the snow. All in all, I was otherwise entertained, and for that reason, I give Fargo an 8.5 between minor flaws/very good and perfectly entertaining. It doesn't pass the test, though. Though I may be talking like Margie Gunderson for awhile, it's not one of those movies I can see myself repeatedly pulling out for a giggle. Especially since it never made me do any such thing...which makes me question why it made the AFI funniest list. Does anyone laugh uproariously when they watch this movie? Comment below.