For those who haven't had the pleasure (???) of seeing the performance of Frances McDormand, read no further. Ms. McDormand probably did the worst artificial Scandinavian sing-song dialect ever heard by man, woman or dead cat, except when a bad amateur mimic was mocking Norwegians, etc. This story was really lame! I walked out at the end (why did I stay till the end? - I don't know to this day) wondering who the movie critics were that recommended it - I would certainly not trust their opinions in the future. This movie was highly thought of in the worst movie year ever - all the candidates for the Oscar were weak, small films . . . that would never be CONSIDERED for awards in a normal year. Compare 1996 to THIS PAST year (2001), especially at Xmas time, with several legitiimate 4-star movies out at the same time. 'Fargo' would not rate 1.5 stars if released in 2001. 1996 was a really hard-up year for Hollywood. I left the theater think I had probably seen the worst flick of my life. Then I rented 'Barton Fink' a few months later (also by the Coens) --- I actually do not have words to express how unbelievably awful THAT was! No more Coen films for me, thank you.