I remembered this film a lot better in my head.
I've been on IMDb for years and saw I'd rates it 8/10
Recommended to the wife we watch it
We both thought it was crap, 4/10.
Tastes change, expectations change
I honestly can't remember what I found good about it,
To boil it down, it was like a long episode of Columbo without a good plot, but better cinematography.
And lots of annoying 'ya's
The accents were
Interesting how different viewers experience this. I too have certain movies where I see them again after 5 or 10 or 15 years and think "This movie isn't as good as I remember it." But not "Fargo" for me. I'm not certain when I first saw it, at least 13 years ago, but have seen it maybe 6 or 8 additional times and it has never gotten old for me. It is still one of my very favorite movies and, owning the DVD, I re-watch it occasionally. I consider it a rare masterpiece.
..*.. TxMike ..*..
Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes not.
^This^
I pity the OP. Muse be some trauma elsewhere in his life. My heart goes out to him, but don't blame "Fargo".
Yep, I have seen this film numerous since it release, and each time I am amazed at its originality, quirkiness, black humor, script quality, and cinematography. It is refreshing to find a stand alone film for adults that is of such high caliber, especially when compared to today's kidult driven world of cinema that consists primarily of branding, reboots, sequels, super hero, and animated films.
100 years from now, Fargo will still be thought of as a great film, by the majority of viewers.
I have the same experience! I think I saw it when it came out either in the theater or as a rental shortly after. I watched it again last night and it is as good as I remember. Every moment Marge is on the screen is pure magic. I can't take my eyes off of her Frances McDormand is that good. And William H. Macy is a close second - just watching this loser continually collapse as all his schemes fall apart is like a cherry on a sundae.
And those are just two high points - there is so much more.
10/10 - one of the best movies ever made.
I never seen this movie before. So just finished it today and wasn't as I thought it was gonna be which was disappointed:(.
shareMy dad doesn't like it but I do. It isn't a movie for everyone. Not everyone likes movies about criminals.
shareActually when it first came out i was like 12 and didn't really get it. But few years later when I've got older I watched it again and really loved it. And I still love it, have watched it many times since, it never gets old and think it is great, unlike a lot of other films which I really liked when I was 12 which now I think are awful ( Ace Ventura, etc...)
shareWhen I saw "Fargo" I was an adult. I haven't felt compelled to see it again in the intervening years. There's no trauma elsewhere in my life. I just didn't find it very interesting. And (to anticipate the inevitable response) I never watch movies with explosions.
share"To boil it down, it was like a long episode of Columbo"
It was the ~same length as a Columbo episode (some Columbo episodes were longer than Fargo). All of the Columbo episodes were actually feature-length made-for-TV movies, with a run time of around 90 minutes (they ran in 2-hour time slots on TV).
Also, Fargo wasn't much like a Columbo episode. There were only two short scenes of a cop questioning the main perpetrator and he promptly fled the scene during the second questioning. Also, there was no indication that she even suspected him of anything until he fled the scene; she was just trying to find out if a car had been stolen from his lot. Columbo focused on the cop questioning the perpetrator and making him think he isn't a suspect (thus no reason to ever flee the scene) until the very end when he springs all the proof on him.
I absolutely hate this movie. It's the typical type of cynical, meanspirited trash that Baby Boomers and Xoomers started putting out after Quentin Tarantino successfully put a finger on the pulse of GenX culture with Pulp Fiction. I have not seen this movie in maybe 15 years and can only imagine that the experience would be 10X worse watching it today than what I last viewed it.
shareIt's not a good movie by any sense. It has many repulsive and silly, plus unrealistic and agenda-ridden bits:
- It happens during winter, which is depressing in itself
- Everyone is a loser, stubborn idiot, violent thug or a wimp except the Mary Sue police officer (unrealistic in itself, but feminist agenda)
- Family dynamic is horrible, bad parenting abound
- The whole kidnapping idea is moronic, he could just negotiate with his nice-enough wife - come on, would that wife really NOT ask her dad for a lot of money so Jerry could take care of their family? What?
- The kidnapping execution could've done in 100 MUCH better ways, if they really had to go through it - making your wife go through THAT is just evil and indefensible, no matter what your intentions are. At least drug your wife so she's asleep so the kidnappers can take her to some cabin gently and without struggles, geez.
- The movie begins with a LIE (and people stupidly believe everything a movie text tells them.. "are they allowed to do that?", they scream when they find out the movie lied - what do you expect, it's a damn MOVIE)
- The silly accent is unnecessary, stupid, unrealistic and kills the immersion. How can you take anyone seriously when they keep saying 'yaah' in that ridiculous way?
- The story is basically, lots of people murder each other in cold blood, then a cop catches the most cruel and psychopathic murderer. That's it. What kind of a story is this?
- Almost everyone in this movie is either ugly, evil or unpleasant. It's not fun to watch such people for a long time. Steve is the one that steals the show, but his character is so nasty and unpleasant, there's no sympathy, so it's all for nothing.
- The ending is so disappointing and anti-climactic. Couldn't there be a better chase scene or struggle at least? Of course not with a Mary Sue character..
- ..that they had to make PREGNANT to underline, SHE IS A (Wonder)WOMAAAAANNNN (insert WW theme here), HEAR ME ROAR!
- She has a wimp, nerdy, predictable, unexciting, lackluster, no-personality, supposed-artist (I don't buy this guy as an 'artist' of 'painter' of anything) 'nice guy' that serves and pedestalizes her (although she's old and ugly), as a husband.
Now, this is not 100% unrealistic, but the 'fake love' she gives him constantly is annoying, and would never happen in real life, because the wife realizes she doesn't need to keep pretending, the husband is too nerdy to leave her anyway, and it's too exhausting to keep up the facade, so the wife usually reveals her true self relatively quickly, especially to a 'nice guy' like this.
Usually, though, the wife keeps a pack of alphas on the side, but we don't see those in the movie. There's no way a woman would be happy married to a butler like this that serves her and never created drama, doesn't dominate her in any way, etc. It's like this woman has no sexuality whatsoever (rare, but could be possible), or she's faking, but we're not shown that she is.
- So much unnecessary violence and blood, gore, and other inhuman crap - it's like the movie tries to make turning people into beasts and dehumanizing seem 'cool'.
- The 'silent blonde that loves pancakes' is the most grotesque and appalling character in movie history. Who would want to hire THAT for anything? Who would want to be his friend or sit in a car with him for any amount of time? Who would trust him to guard the wife and not kill her? He's unreasonable, cruel, kills at a drop of a hat, smokes constantly, completely ridiculous and horrible to watch.
- Steve's character should KNOW this guy is crazy psycho, so why would he EVEN go back to the cabin? Just take the money and go to Hawaii and live a happy life. But no, burying the money, going to the cabin to give a crazy psycho 40 000? WHY? Just.. why? What does he think he's gonna gain by doing that? Why scream 'Are we square?!" at him anyway? Hasn't he SEEN what this guy does if he gets angry at anyone?
- Nothing about this movie makes sense - the Mike-scene is not only nonsensical but completely unnecessary (and NOT 'critical', as some people seem to think). It should've been cut. A trained police officer, female or not, would NOT need this kind of scene to realize that a..
SLEAZY, FIDGETY _CAR_SALESMAN_
..can be a liar. Holy cow.
- The message of the movie is.. what? Kill everyone and then just let someone kill you? Murder is good? Blood spilling is cool? Women can do anything that men can do, and better - even when PREGNANT?
Feminist claptrap, as usual..
Still, I have some kind of soft spot for this crap movie, so I have to sometimes watch it - I guess Steve Buscemi is still so charming regardless of his character being so nasty and stupid in this movie.
Marge knows immediately Jerry is lying through his teeth. She's assuming he's lying to cover up the theft or unauthorized borrowing by Shep of a vehicle from his lot to protect his job. She has no reason to suspect early on that Jerry is directly involved in any way with her murder investigation.
After the meeting with Mike her mood becomes more suspicious and she realizes she better investigate Jerry more thoroughly and actually verify (not assume) he's being evasive only because he doesn't want his boss/father-in-law to discover a car is missing from the lot.
Another reason she goes back is if she has no evidence Jerry knows the vehicle is missing she can't corner him into admitting the vehicle was stolen or taken which she might be able to use to apply pressure and find out more clues to help her solve her murders. She did the exact thing to Shep by pointing out he was on probation.
You hit the nail on the head for this film.
But the accents are silly yet believable. People up north in the states do sound like Canadians in some areas
I watched this movie for the first time today and was repulsed by the scumbags of the main characters in it. As another poster wrote on these boards, Francis Mcdormands little speech at the end is what gives it heart, otherwise this movie would be unwatchable a second time.
I dont think I will watch this movie again, not for a very long time.
It’s a classic, never gets old for me
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