Ok, I haven't yet seen all the Coens but most of them and all the well-regarded ones. They don't always connect: that particular eccentric idiosyncratic mood can be hit or miss. For me, Hudsucker and Fargo are comfortably the two strongest pictures where their style finds a neat consistent connection.

Fargo is clearly the darker of the two...you know, not for kids! It almost plays like a Minnesotan homage to Pulp Fiction: graphic comic violence, exaggerated characterisation, the mundane mixed with the heavy. And it works a treat! And unlike Pulp Fiction's exclusively comic-book characterisation Fargo is anchored by a homely, modest-but-not-to-be-messed-with, believable and totally-charming pregnant Policewoman character. This twist to the 'pulp fiction' format is welcome, gives the film some sympathetic human emotion yet without utilising emotional dramatic clichés like a thousand other crime movies. The film lifts a notch every time she's on screen.

Everything else works too: the black humour lands, the scenes are nicely filmed, dialogue is great, acting from all is top: Jerry's shamelessly-fake personality is arguably the most believable characterisation after Marge. The rest are comic-book, and all drawn effectively...you can see some influence on Breaking Bad's characterisations too. It's an effective mix which adds to the slightly-surreal vibe.

Fargo doesn't quite have the epic narrative of Hudsucker Proxy but makes up for that with its more colourful mix of scenes & characters. Like Hudsucker it's a strong 8/10 in my book. They rank above the watchable but lower-scoring Coen flicks like Big Lebowski, No Country etc.

Not quite a 9+ as those are reserved for the movies which blow me away. The Coens have such a strong signature style, I'd like to see them try their hand at a fantastic-fiction genre: like horror or sci-fi. Could be something special!