"Fargo" is the Coen brother's film of a salesman in Fargo, North Dakota that hires two men to kidnap his wife for financial gain and a subsequent police investigation. The story is said to be based on true events with the stipulation that the characterizations are exaggerated for comical effect. The film has an eclectic mix of drama, crime, humor and black humor. The film is well-shot and has an effective score.

The film has solid performances. William H. Macy creates a compelling character as the desperate salesman Jerry Lundegaard. Carl Showalter and Gaear Grimsrud are interesting as the quirky yet dangerous as the kidnappers. Frances McDormand also has a notable turn as the no-nonsense and practical yet simple Marge Gunderson.

The story starts off well and the crime story generally retained my interest. However, I found that the script got diverted at a number of points and was less effective than it could have been. A prime example of this was the scenes related to the character of "Mike", which were unnecessary and distracted from the main story. The film's satire of how trite people can be is clever at points, but becomes tedious with repetition. However, Chief Gunderson's speech toward the end of the film was well-written. Unfortunately I didn't find the quality of "Fargo" to be up to its reputation despite its positive points.