The eternal conflict between good and evil is played out here against the backdrop of a bitter cold American landscape. A group of quirky, ruthless criminals eventually find themselves pursued by a very pregnant cop and her unassuming colleagues. With the Coen brothers at the helm, the audience gets equal doses of humor and violence - often simultaneously - and finally feels awestruck by the simple goodness of Marge and her sweet-tempered husband. This is the movie that should have won the Oscar in '97 but lost to The English Patient which had lots of snob appeal, the one thing Fargo lacked - for sure. It would take years for the Academy to make up for their error by awarding the statuette to the Coen's No Country For Old Men, one of the rare times when the best picture winner actually WAS the year's best picture. Fargo May have lost that year, but one thing it did win was the gratitude of many film-goers for the gift of a wonderfully entertaining crime movie.