Critic Reviews
Fargo (1996) Rank 4 Reviews
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based on (78) reviews
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Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
`Fargo" begins with an absolutely dead-on familiarity with smalltown life in the frigid winter landscape of Minnesota and North Dakota.Then it rotates its story through satire, comedy, ...read the complete Fargo movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
DVD Clinic ("Indiana Sev")
A Minnesotan car salesman, Jerry Lundegaard (Macy) hires two men to kidnap his wife so that he can get his hands on some of his father-in-law’s ransom loot for an idea he’s got cooking. Things go from bad to worse as the kidnapping goes wrong, blood ...read the complete Fargo movie review at DVD Clinic ("Indiana Sev")
Kevin Patterson
FARGO is far from the typical crime/suspense thriller. It is "about" this kidnapping scheme, but it is about a lot of other things too. It is about Northern accents and expressions like "you betcha." It is about ice on the windshield and large ...read the complete Fargo movie review at Kevin Patterson
Steve Rhodes
Carl Showalter (Steve Buscemi) and Gaear Grimsrud (Peter Stormare) are the incompetent but cold blooded kidnappers and killers. Carl talks incessantly while Gaear rarely speaks and is more frightening. Gaear has a constant gaze as if he has no morals or ...read the complete Fargo movie review at Steve Rhodes
Jerry Saravia
"Fargo" is directed by Joel Coen and written by Ethan and Joel Coen, and the film certainly benefits by not being as simplistic or inane as any murderoftheweek TV movie. "Fargo" has gobs of wit and malicious black humor but its main strength is derived ...read the complete Fargo movie review at Jerry Saravia
Movie Hell (Michael J. Legeros)
In the remarkably rich and furiously funny FARGO, brothers Joel and Ethan Coen have returned to their roots, both thematically and geographically. The "brats," as they are called by some, have effectively remade their first film, BLOOD SIMPLE, as a ...read the complete Fargo movie review at Movie Hell (Michael J. Legeros)
Palo Alto Weekly (Jeanne Aufmuth)
Projectionist (Sean Caszatt)
Mr. Cranky Rates the Movies (Mr. Cranky)
filmfacts (Andreas Edler)
Laramie Movie Scope (Robert Roten)
Looking Closer (Jeffrey Overstreet)
Starring Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi "Fargo" is dark comedy against a snow-white landscape, with a whole mess of bright blood on the snow. It was my favorite movie of 1996 because it's good storytelling -- hilarious, ...read the complete Fargo movie review at Looking Closer (Jeffrey Overstreet)
Media-Assault.com (Sean Caszatt)
The Coen Brothers are responsible for some of the weirdest movies to come down the pike in Hollywood history. Movies like Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, Barton Fink and Miller's Crossing are examples of their sheer, odd genius. Fargo is their best and ...read the complete Fargo movie review at Media-Assault.com (Sean Caszatt)
ToxicUniverse.com (John Nesbit)
If you have a hard time handling blood and/or don't appreciate dark humor, focus on Marge more. She's the character who ...read the complete Fargo movie review at ToxicUniverse.com (John Nesbit)
Palo Alto Online (Jeanne Aufmuth)
Movie Reviews UK
Compelling, beautiful and unique; Fargo exploits new angles on kidnapping, constantly surprising by virtue of its real-life basis. Set during the typical Minnesotan winter, ever-present snow provides a stark backdrop to the shenanigans of car salesman ...read the complete Fargo movie review at Movie Reviews UK
filmcritic.com (Christopher Null)
The Coen brothers are back and in a big way. Bigger, as a matter of fact, than ever before, because with Fargo, the Coens have produced a masterpiece of a film that outclasses anything they've done yet--from Raising Arizona to Barton Fink to even Blood ...read the complete Fargo movie review at filmcritic.com (Christopher Null)
FilmLand Web (Robert Konop)
Reel.com
"Minnesota Nice," a featurette on both the movie and the northern Midwest region where it was filmed (to find enough snow, the cast and crew went nearly to Canada), is a sort of explanation of and apology to the people of Minnesota. It's a ...read the complete Fargo movie review at Reel.com
Kevin Patterson
Yet "Fargo" is more than just a crime/suspense thriller. It is "about" this kidnapping scheme, but it is about a lot of other things too. It is about Northern accents and expressions like "you betcha." It is about ice on the windshield and large ...read the complete Fargo movie review at Kevin Patterson
DVD Talk (James W. Powell)
If you never bought one of the previous lackluster DVD editions of Fargo now's the time to do it. If you did buy one or both of them, it's time to upgrade. Although not perfect, the extra features are worth the $20 you'll be spending on this new disc. ...read the complete Fargo movie review at DVD Talk (James W. Powell)
Dragan Antulov
If Coens' first feature BLOOD SIMPLE was known as film noir, FARGO could be best described as "film blanc". This is due to the whiteness that dominates the winter scenery of Minnesota, their home state. In FARGO the audience is going to experience ...read the complete Fargo movie review at Dragan Antulov
MovieFreak.com (Dennis Landmann)
Q Network Film Desk (James Kendrick)
Brought to life with wonderful affection by Frances McDormand, Marge is such a fundamentally decent person that you have to wonder how she manages to get mixed up in all "malfeasance" (as she puts it) going on in this movie. Her affable personality is ...read the complete Fargo movie review at Q Network Film Desk (James Kendrick)
Movie Gazette (Andrea Chee)
An odd cross between a farcical comedy and a crime thriller, with some peculiar characters in an unusual setting. It shouldn't work but it does, resulting in a fine film that defies expectations. ...read the complete Fargo movie review at Movie Gazette (Andrea Chee)
Cinematter (Matt Williams)
Fargo is the latest film from Joel and Ethan Coen, and their most realistic, if not quite their best. William H. Macy is a used car salesman in Minneapolis. When he is overwhelmed by debt, he hatches a scheme to kidnap his wife and get her rich father ...read the complete Fargo movie review at Cinematter (Matt Williams)
Pedro Sena
The story is basic enough. A man who has grand designs for financial gains, trying to do what others with the capital do harmless enough, hires two bums to kidnap his wife and set up a ransom situation, where upon he would split the money with the bums ...read the complete Fargo movie review at Pedro Sena
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