Cold Cold Ground

Fargo (1996)

Rating: R

Runtime: 98 minutes

Box Office (in today’s dollars): 37 million (approximately)

Characters: Marge Gunderson, Jerry Lundegaard, Carl Showalter, Gaear Grimsrud, Wade Gustafson, Jean Lundegaard, Scotty Lundegaard, Stan Grossman, Norm Gunderson, Shep Proudfoot, Mike Yanagita, Lou

Favorite Quote: “You know it’s a Radisson, so it’s pretty good.”

Favorite Scene: Marge and Mike at the Radisson

Favorite Character: Marge Gunderson

Other need-to-see nineties movies directed by the Coen brothers: The Big Lebowski (also on Salty Chewbacca’s Necessary Nineties list!!)

This is the first of two Coen Brothers movies to be reviewed for my blog. You will have to wait for bowling and White Russians; this movie has Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. Oh, and lots of sex and violence. It will make you say “Oh jeez!” My favorite character, Marge Gunderson, is the hero of the movie. She is a police chief, is pregnant, and has a sweet husband Norm who feeds her eggs and Arby’s. Jerry Lundegaard is the villain. Carl and Gaear are the bad guys helping Jerry. Everyone else (Wade, Jean, Scotty, Stan) is caught in the middle. Oh, and let’s not forget Mike Yanagita. He’s got a crush on Marge and delivers my favorite line from the movie: “You know it’s a Radisson, so it’s pretty good”.

Speaking of Mike and Marge, they are in my favorite scene. I know everyone always talks about the woodchipper scene, but when Mike is trying to get with Marge over dinner, you just can’t look away. It’s so uncomfortable. Imagine a 30-minute episode of Frasier or The Office all crammed into 5 minutes. Side note: there have been times when I have been watching those two shows with my girlfriend and she either makes me turn down the volume or turn the channel or she has to leave the room. Oh, and I am pretty sure that if I had been on dates growing up they would have been just as uncomfortable. Good thing I never have to worry about that; thanks, Rebecca!!

I am pretty excited to watch The Big Lebowski again after watching this (only 5 movies away!). I hadn’t seen Fargo in over 20 years, and I have only seen Lebowski twice. It should be really interesting to compare the two; I think that there are going to be a lot of similarities/differences, and it will be cool to talk to/hear from people to see which one they prefer. Funny, my favorite Coen Brothers movie is neither of these: it’s The Hudsucker Proxy. Goooo Eagles!!!!

Next movie to review: Jerry Maguire