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Some may say loneliness has little to do with Fargo, but I disagree. Used car salesman Jerry Lundegaard (a perfect William H. Macy) is constantly alone with his thoughts and his schemes, seemingly friendless and barely tolerated by his gruff father-in-law (Harve Presnell). As his plan to kidnap his wife begins to unravel, Jerry retreats further as he tries to reason his way out of an increasingly dire predicament.

Of course, Jerry is not what you'd call a criminal mastermind. His first mistake was hiring Carl Showalter (Steve Buscemi) to facilitate his kidnap-for-ransom plot. Carl, who has brought along the silent, brutish Gaear (Peter Stormare) for extra muscle, will receive $40,000 and a new car for his troubles. However, Jerry is not being forthcoming. Once his wife is kidnapped, Jerry's father-in-law will be asked to pony up the considerably larger sum of $1,000,000.

Immediately in Fargo, we realize that writer/directors Joel and Ethan Coen know the territory. Not just the accents but also small town life. Jerry's father-in-law watches college hockey on TV. Jerry's wife does nothing but cook and knit. Carl wants a middle-of-the-road Oldsmobile Cutlass Cierra for his part in the crime. Local television consists of chirpy and insufferable daytime talk shows. The film elicits giggles from every Midwestern "yeah" and "how are ya?", but it stops short of laughing at the characters. And while the film's first act is clever, intriguing and funny, it's not until 35 minutes in that we meet Fargo's heart: Brainerd county police chief Marge Gunderson (Francis McDormand, who received a well-deserved Oscar). She's happy and positive in that Minnesota way, but she's intelligent. When a fellow cop mentions a license plate containing the letters DLR, only Marge is smart enough to know that DLR signifies dealer plates.

Along the way, we learn of Marge's home life. For instance, Marge is pregnant, a fact that leads to a couple of laughs ("I think I'm gonna barf!") but isn't directly relevant to the story. Her husband (John Carroll Lynch) is a painter of ducks, whose latest creation is nominated to be on the 3-cent stamp. That's not relevant to the story either. But both tidbits are essential because they give the film a soft spot, without which Fargo would just be a sarcastic if well-realized crime caper.

At one point, the film takes an odd detour when Marge receives a call from an old school chum who'd like to see her for dinner. Although they haven't seen each other in years, Mike (Steve Park) still holds a candle for Marge and begins to cry as he recounts the tragedy of his years since they last met. The next morning, when Marge discovers his story was a lie, he becomes, like Jerry, a sad and lonely soul trying to spin his way into a less desperate existence.

Fargo is a dark story told on a white, snowy backdrop. Roger Deakins' cinematography is simultaneously bleak and beautiful. Carter Burwell's score is icy and mysterious. Every performance is great. The film runs a tight, crisp 97 minutes. In all, it's the type of movie that should inspire a generation of college kids to make films. Joel and Ethan Coen made funnier movies (Raising Arizona) and more dramatic movies (Miller's Crossing) before Fargo. But Fargo ties it all together. It's a triumph of subtlety and mood, humor and character.

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The previous versions of the Fargo DVD lacked in terms of transfer quality. Granted, the film was probably a tough one to clean up. Snow is everywhere and the skies are a constant off-white. Even the smallest bit of dirt or dust will be picked up. Amazingly, this new transfer seems better than the others. Considering the unforgiving surroundings, there is hardly any dirt on the print. The whites are clean, with no pixelization and very little grain. The film relies on natural, mostly dull colors and naturalistic lighting, and it's all transferred evenly and cleanly. Shadow detail is particularly good, and contrast, so crucial in some of cinematographer Roger Deakins' more beautiful shots, is also very good.

One side of the disc contains a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. The other side contains a full-frame transfer that will forever go unwatched by me.

Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

Fargo is a dialogue driven movie with a lot of atmosphere. In MGM's brand new 5.1 Dolby Digital track, the dialogue is rendered well, the atmosphere is not. I may have been hoping for too much, but I wanted a colder, more immersive experience. The cold winds, the tires on gravel, the string-heavy score, somehow it should have added up to more. The surrounds are used hardly at all, although the lefts and rights are employed for the occasional bit of dialogue or sound effect. That's the bad news. The good news is that what's provided is good. Dialogue, mostly coming from the center, is very clean and the balance between dialogue, music and effects is spot-on. So instead of complaining about what's not there, I'll just appreciate what is there.

The DVD also includes a French language track, as well as subtitles in English, French and Spanish.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

When a new special edition of Fargo was announced, fans salivated at the possibilities of what would it include. A Coen brothers commentary? A full-length documentary? Well, how about a Roger Deakins commentary and a 20- minute featurette? These, along with some other tidbits, make for a solid, if not inspired supplement experience. Overall, it's less than what we've been hoping for, but more than previous releases.

The big gun is the screen-specific audio commentary by noted cinematographer Roger Deakins. You know you're in trouble when the right after he introduces himself, Deakins says, "it's been a long time since I've seen this film." Oh boy, they'll be lots of insight here! Still, Deakins does come up with an occasional gem. The famous title sequence of the car driving in the snow towards camera was not even shot by Deakins. The crew was shooting in an office building when the roadway finally accumulated the right amount of snow to achieve the shot. So Deakins sent his assistant to get it. Deakins also discusses the simple approach to camera placement. In Fargo, the Coens would tell department heads to make things "less interesting", in order to emphasize the dull Midwestern setting. And Deakins honored that with simple lockdowns and cross shots. With Deakins, there's as much silence as there is discussion, but it's still a passable commentary. And thankfully, his comments veer away from the technical.

Trivia Track is a nod to VH1's Pop Up Video. Instead of black and white thought balloons, we get colored squares containing bits of information. Some facts relate to the movie and others do not. Some tidbits are interesting trivia (William Macy was studying to be a veterinarian when he turned to acting) and others are not (the precursor to the American pancake was the Crepe Suzette). But they keep 'em coming fast and furious, so you're bound to read something of interest.

Minnesota Nice is a 20-minute mini-documentary on the film. It starts out fairly typical, but stick with it. It gets more interesting as it goes along. William Macy originally auditioned for another role, but quickly became near obsessed with Jerry Lundegaard. He read twice, then went to New York to lobby for the part. Peter Stormare was on-stage playing Hamlet for Ingmar Bergman, when the brothers saw him and offered him a part...in Miller's Crossing. Unable to leave the Swedish National Theater Company, he had to turn it down. Years later, he was again on stage, this time in The Swan, co-starring Frances McDormand, who was (and still is) married to Joel Coen. The rest, obviously, is history. There is some behind-the-scenes video (there should have been more) and an interesting photo of McDormand's dialect notes, created by her dialect coach.

Next is a Charlie Rose interview with Joel and Ethan Coen and Frances McDormand. Rose can be pretty insufferable at times, but here he keeps it to a minimum (probably because the interview was only twenty minutes). The Coens don't do a lot of TV interviews, so this supplement is a nice addition to the disc. Their discussion is mostly technical and promotional, so forget about gossipy tidbits. Still, the brothers are brilliant and McDormand is such a wonderful actress that the interview kept me entertained. Video is full screen and looks like a third generation VHS dub.

Photo gallery contains 70 color behind-the-scenes shots. And unlike so many other DVD photo galleries that just contain publicity photos, these really are behind-the-scenes snaps. At least 60 of the photos contain Joel or Ethan Coen, a camera, a ladder, or something that screams "behind the scenes." The advertising gallery contains a trailer and TV spots. The trailer is two minutes long and shows its age. It's dirty and the colors smear. The :30 television spot is full frame and looks better than the trailer.

Finally, there is an interesting article about Roger Deakins from American Cinematographer magazine. It's technical in places, but it shows how important Deakins has become to the Coen's success. It also shows how much work it takes to make a natural location look natural. This text- based supplement is navigated using the left and right arrow buttons.

DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in your PC?

No ROM extras have been included.

Parting Thoughts