The Coen brothers dish out a story, that was so good, that it won the Best Actress Oscar for Frances McDormand and a screenplay Oscar for them. She plays Marge Gunderson, a Brainerd, Minnesota, police chief, who is called into an investigation into the death of a Minnesota police officer and two civilians on the side of the road. What she doesn't know and what we do know is, a struggling car salesman, named Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy), who wants to extort money from his father-in-law, comes up with a scheme to have his wife kidnapped for a ransom. He hires two criminals, Carl (Steve Buscemi and Gaear (Peter Stormare), in Fargo, North Dakota, with a deal to give them $80,000 when the job is done.

This film is a dark comedy, which they usually are dark, when talking about the Coen brothers. They take a situation in life, with colorfully, complicated characters, throw in a level of crime or drama and sprinkle into it plenty of style and comedy. It has worked for everything they have done over the last 40 years. They have plenty of good films and Fargo (1996), is one of their best. It was popular with the Academy that year too. William H. Macy was also nominated for the Best Actor for this film.

The brothers for this film are Joel and Ethan Coen, basically sharing the directing and writing credits for this film. Their film experience makes them good at utilizing classic Hollywood film techniques and practices. They have been around long enough that they understand the art of film well. Not only can they tell a story well, but they also utilize the camera to give the film a moody, dreamlike feel. The shots they use in this film are really nice. The performances by the cast are so real, that it is hard to tell that they are pretending to be Minnesotans. Sit back and enjoy an interesting ride through the snowy roads of Minnesota.

8.8 (B+ MyGrade) = 8 IMDB.