Fargo (1996)

Director:

Joel Coen

Writers (WGA):

Joel Coen (written by) &
Ethan Coen (written by)

Release Date:

8 March 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

A homespun murder story.

Plot:

Jerry Lundegaard's inept crime falls apart due to his and his henchmen's bungling and the persistent police work of pregnant Marge Gunderson.

Plot Keywords:

Ransom | Blood | Murder | Pregnant | Kidnapping

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 52 wins & 30 nominations

Cast

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

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, language and sexuality.

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

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:18

Filming Locations:

Bathgate, North Dakota, USA

Company:

PolyGram Filmed Entertainment

Trivia:

The seal for the Brainerd police department has a silhouette of Paul Bunyan and Babe the blue ox.

Goofs:

Continuity: Marge's burger when she is having lunch in her office.

Quotes:

[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.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Office: The Fire (#2.4)" (2005)

Soundtrack:

Do You Know the Way to San José

What a flick!

If you haven't seen this movie, do yourself a favour and see it. It is very well put together and the plot is constantly evolving into a deeper shade of creepiness. At times scary (not in the horror movie sense) and quite rich in dark humour, this is one of those movies that gives you a weird felling inside even an hour after its over. The music is quite appropriate and unlike Scarface, is timeless. The camera work is usually quite basic but whoever directed the photography had the enjoyable habit of giving us interestingly artistic segways between scenes. This is the first film so far that I've given a 10 out of 10. I was going to give it a 9, but I couldn't think of a reason to take any points from perfect.