Fargo

I still remember the campaign that Fargo had as a TV premiere on HBO, but I never saw it. There was really no reason not to watch it. The cast is likable, and the subject matter is one that captures the attention, but until there was a series on the horizon, there was no need to rush into it. I am now very excited for Season 2 with Kirsten Dunst and I enjoyed the original film very much. It's matured just enough because now I know who Frances and Steve are. (12/10/2015)

Certainly not my favorite Coen brothers film, though the way they are able to graft brutality, thriller suspense, and their traditional absurd comedy of human types and their superficial dialogues lightly touches on perfection. The excellent cast hardly astonishes (Stormare takes one’s breath away with his study of complete dementia and Frances is infinitely cute), and perfect and elaborated directing with all the changes in tempo and mood is simply expected of the Coens... Formally, it evokes a white snowy wasteland, with all the quiet places, roads going nowhere and very loose narration. Fargo swims in a very strange current, in which are intertwined a thrilling drama, a psychological study of the life of a loser and a Coen comedy about every-men who get entangled in a bubbling cauldron of brutality. Nothing is self-serving, everything has its order and the brothers, as always, stand on the side of ordinary "idiots". Thanks to this, Fargo is much more optimistic than the subsequent No Country for Old Men. Here, the law is achievable and the world returns to its old habits, to a bed with a bald dumbass and a box full of documents from the life of insects. A good, kind world. But I prefer the pre-apocalyptic wasteland of Cormac McCarthy... and thereby also this country. (12/01/2009)

When it comes to sh**, it comes to sh** properly. And best to tell you about it is Steve "Funny in general" Buscemi. And maybe also everyone who had anything to do with the events from Moose Lake, including the pregnant sheriff, the pissing sales manager and the inarticulate lunatic with a passion for woodcutters. And why? For a little money. (04/02/2006)

I have a problem with Fargo. It contains a dozen unforgettable scenes, great characters and one of Carter Burwell’s best soundtracks, but it tries so hard to be a caricature that it loses touch with reality. It thus loses some of its seriousness, which was supposed to be its key element, and remains only an original film curiosity. I spent a long time vacillating between three and four stars. I settled on four, but only for the individual scenes. The atmosphere and omnipresent snow are not enough to make a movie complex and relatable. (05/07/2009)

Technically, it’s quite skillful (brutal action scenes), musically impressively minimalist, and in the second half the film is also suspenseful and entertaining, but the main problem of my criticism is probably in the direction. I'm not the type who drools over humor of the Coens, quite the opposite. It gets on my nerves and some scenes felt like a light rip-off of Tarantino's style. (02/07/2005)