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Histerical, in a slow brewing way
by CarlosC (movies profile)
Aug 1, 2006
7
of
9 people found this review helpful
The Brothers Coen give us Fargo (Joel directed, and brother Ethan co-wrote with him). It is Moby Dick, without the whale. And, without Cpt. Ahab. No Ishmael, either, come to think of it. And, none of it takes place at sea, but -- instead -- in land-locked Minnesota. Rather than a whale, we get William H. Macy as a carsalesman, and head-of-household, who is tightly screwed in the vice of financial pressures. When Macy hatches a scheme to have his wife (Kristin Rudruf) kidnapped and have his mean father-in-law (Harve Pressnell) pay the ransom, of which Macy expects to get a cut, it is up to the local, pregnant police chief (Frances McDormand) to fish him in.
So, does she get 'im, do ya think? Yah, but not before the whole crazy thing careens out of control when the hired kidnappers (Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare, reunited in this years' un-Fargo-like Armageddon) decide to ad lib from Macy's fairly straight-forward script and demand more money. Oh, yeah, they also kill a couple of motorists and highway patrol officers that they run into while leaving town in a car still bearing dealer plates from William H. Macy's lot. Needless to say, the situation that arises is somewhat absurd, and the tone of the film is less than serious, thereinafter. Fargo's is a dry humor, dependent on deadpanned irony and sarcasm, that may not be appealing to all tastes -- as is true of all of the Coens's work. If you get it, though, it is hysterical.
Those willing to indulge the Coens's craft will find that Fargo is a parodic homage to Midwestern culture and color -- especially, its regional linguistic eccentricity. This makes this element of the film -- its setting -- so compelling that it becomes, at once, a familiar place, even for those who have never been there. Thus, it is most fitting that the film should be called Fargo; I do not know if the place in the movie is at all like Minnesota. All I know is that the place in the movie is real. It is also interesting to watch how the Coens's characters, each of whom is endowed with a sort of self-contained integrity, interact with their holistic environment. For instance, when Frances McDormand is out looking for the real killers, as it were, she takes a leisurely drive around the snow-covered lake where Peter Stormare is introducing Steve Buscemi to a woodshed (see the movie -- you'll understand). She takes the scenic way, not because she's trying to be stealthy; not because she's in the middle of a pregnancy; not because she's in a lazy mood; but, just because she's in Fargo.
The attention to regional speech and to characters makes Fargo particularly strong on dialogue, as a cinematic element. It is therefore fitting that Fargo was an Oscar-winner for Best Screenplay (McDormand also claimed a trophy for her acting job). The Coens's use of dialogue, especially in this film, approaches Quentin Tarantino's uncanny penchant for making the lines that the characters speak realistic-sounding, but very well-written, as well. One last thing that is worth remarking on, here, is the casting of the actors in the film. Particularly McDormand, Macy, and Buscemi constitute respectably offbeat choices that certify the campy, quirky quality of the movie, and do top-notch jobs.
(Carlos Colorado) |
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