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Fargo (1996)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
8 March 1996 (USA) moreTagline:
A homespun murder story. morePlot:
Jerry Lundegaard's inept crime falls apart due to his and his henchmen's bungling and the persistent police work of pregnant Marge Gunderson. full summary | full synopsisAwards:
Won 2 Oscars. Another 52 wins & 30 nominations moreNewsDesk:
(104 articles)
Movie Review: A Serious Man (From The Movie Fanatic. 2 November 2009, 1:29 AM, PST)
Movie Review: A Serious Man
(From The Movie Fanatic. 2 November 2009, 1:29 AM, PST)
User Comments:
You're darned tootin'! more (640 total)US TV Schedule:
| Sat. Nov. 7 | 8:00 PM | E | |||
| Sun. Nov. 8 | 9:00 AM | E | |||
| Tue. Nov. 17 | 9:00 AM | E | more |
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| William H. Macy | ... | Jerome 'Jerry' Lundegaard | |
| Steve Buscemi | ... | Carl Showalter | |
| Peter Stormare | ... | Gaear Grimsrud | |
| Kristin Rudrüd | ... | Jean Lundegaard | |
| Harve Presnell | ... | Wade Gustafson | |
| Tony Denman | ... | Scotty Lundegaard | |
| Gary Houston | ... | Irate Customer | |
| Sally Wingert | ... | Irate Customer's Wife | |
| Kurt Schweickhardt | ... | Car Salesman | |
| Larissa Kokernot | ... | Hooker #1 | |
| Melissa Peterman | ... | Hooker #2 | |
| Steve Reevis | ... | Shep Proudfoot (as Steven Reevis) | |
| Warren Keith | ... | Reilly Diefenbach (voice) | |
| Steve Edelman | ... | Morning Show Host | |
| Sharon Anderson | ... | Morning Show Hostess |
Additional Details
MPAA:
Rated R for strong violence, language and sexuality.Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parentsRuntime:
98 minCountry:
USALanguage:
EnglishColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 moreSound Mix:
Dolby SRCertification:
Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Ontario) | New Zealand:R18 | USA:R (certificate #34206) | Denmark:15 | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Philippines:R-18 | Brazil:18 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Belgium:KT | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Germany:16 (bw) | Hong Kong:III | Iceland:16 | Ireland:18 | Italy:VM14 | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Peru:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:M18 (re-rating) | Singapore:R(A) (original rating) | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18Fun Stuff
Trivia:
The irate customer's name is Bucky (you can hear his wife say his name under her breath). moreGoofs:
Anachronisms: The Oldsmobile Ninety Eights featured in the movie are "refreshed" 1989-1990 models with a revised grille, side moldings, emblems, nameplates, and rears. moreQuotes:
[first lines]Jerry Lundegaard: I'm, uh, Jerry Lundegaard.
Carl Showalter: You're Jerry Lundegaard?
Jerry Lundegaard: Ya. Shep Proudfoot said...
Carl Showalter: Shep said you'd be here at 7:30. What gives, man?
Jerry Lundegaard: Shep said 8:30.
Carl Showalter: We've been sitting here an hour. He's
[motioning to Gaer]
Carl Showalter: peed three times already.
Jerry Lundegaard: I'm sure sorry. Shep told me 8:30. It was a mix-up, I guess.
more
FAQ
Was Fargo based on a true story?How much sex, violence, and profanity are in this movie?
Did a Japanese woman die because she believed the movie was true?
more
more (640 total)
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"What'd this guy look like anyway?"
"Oh, he was a little guy, kinda funny lookin'."
"Uh-huh. In what way?"
"Just a general way."
In that interplay between a Brainerd, MN., police officer and a witness discussing a criminal investigation, you have one of your principal pieces of dialogue from what is considered by many to be Joel and Ethan Coen's finest film.
Of course you can draw comparisons to others they've made, such as Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, even Barton Fink and The Big Lebowski. But Fargo illustrates the Coen Brothers' takes on plot, art and drama more succinctly and emotionally than any of those others. Here you have a set of memorable, if not always likeable, characters in a plot that goes from clunky to chaotic in the most unspoiled manner, from Jerry Lundegaard's stilted conversation with Gaear and Carl in a bar in Fargo at the beginning of the movie - the only occasion in which the movie specifically shows you Fargo, N.D. - to Marge Gunderson's confrontation with Gaear and the wood-chipper.
Frances McDormand deservedly won an Oscar for playing a well-balanced, intelligent, pregnant police officer placing her own straightforward methodology on to an investigation of bizarre goings-on. And William H. Macy gives a true one-two punch playing a frenetically-charged, fearful and, in the end, inept used car salesman trying in the most remarkable manner to make money. The two best scenes in the movie are the two occasions in which Marge questions Jerry about the Brainerd murders and a car from his lot being involved -- I couldn't imagine an actress doing a better job of seriously but comically exclaiming, "He's fleeing the interview!"
Notable among the actors as well are Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare playing Carl and Gaear, the two hit men hired by Jerry to help him con his father-in-law out of money. There's comic brilliance watching Stormare silently grimace at Buscemi's violent but gregarious behavior, and Buscemi shines being able to play the most out-of-control of all the characters in the movie. Kristin Rudrüd also stands out playing Jean Lundegaard, Jerry's haplessly kidnapped wife.
If you can appreciate an intelligent look at not-always-so-intelligent life on this planet, you'll enjoy the little more than the hour and a half this movie has to show you.