Barnes & Noble

The Coen brothers (Blood Simple, Barton Fink) scored their biggest critical success with this darkly funny thriller set in a small, winter-bound Minnesota town. The story revolves around a kidnapping that goes awry and the efforts of a quiet, efficient -- and very pregnant -- police chief (Frances McDormand) to solve a series of increasingly gruesome murders. McDormand won an Oscar for her marvelously understated portrayal of a kind-hearted, coffee-swilling sleuth, but the whole cast -- including William H. Macy and Steve Buscemi -- is superb, delivering the kind of offbeat, stylized performances that are a Coen brothers trademark. Music by regular Coen collaborator Carter Burwell sets a moody tone, beautifully evoking the long nights and frozen expanses of a Minnesota winter. Holding it all together is the directors' complete confidence in their own sensibility; despite the film's mainstream recognition -- it got an Oscar nomination for best picture -- Fargo shows no hint of Hollywood compromise. The film is distinguished by the brothers' unique and very black sense of humor, right down to the foot poking out of the wood chipper. Gregory Baird

All Movie Guide

Filmmaking siblings Joel Coen and Ethan Coen both embraced and poked satirical fun at their Minnesotan roots with this comedy-drama-thriller that earned seven Oscar nominations, winning for Best Actress and Best Original Screenplay. Frances McDormand stars as Marge Gunderson, a pregnant police chief whose affable, folksy demeanor masks a whip-smart mind. When a pair of motorists are found slain not far from the corpse of a state trooper, Marge begins piecing together a case involving a pair of dopey would-be kidnappers, Carl (Steve Buscemi) and Gaear (Bergman stock player Peter Stormare). They've been hired by Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy), a car salesman under the thumb of his wealthy, overbearing boss and father-in-law, Wade (Harve Presnell). Jerry's raised some money illegally through a petty scam he's run on General Motors and he's about to get caught. When Wade sours a business deal that could save his son-in-law's hide, the desperate Jerry hires Carl and Gaear to kidnap his wife and hold her for ransom. Things go predictably wrong and a series of murders occur, with Marge, waddling along behind her enormous belly and ever-hungering for an all-you-can-eat buffet, hot on the trail of the killers. Although the credits for Fargo state that the film is loosely based on real events, the story is entirely fictional, the claim being just an ironic jibe on the part of the Coens. Karl Williams

Product Details

• UPC: 883904138556
• Source: MGM (VIDEO & DVD)
• Region Code: A
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound, Dolby AC-3 Surround Sound
• Editions: Subtitled, Dubbed
• Time: 1:38:00
• Sales Rank: 17,995

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Fargo/Rain Man
• Raising Arizona / Fargo
• Coen Brothers Gift Set
• Fargo/Thelma & Louise

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