Of the infinite films I'm yet to watch, the uncountable number of directors I'm yet to dive into, the film-nerd homework I still need to complete - the Coen Brothers' material has stuck out to me for a while now. Haven't watched any of their films up until now, and I thought that the time has come to change the situation. So yeah, my journey starts with Fargo.

Now, Fargo follows Jerry (William H. Macy), a sales manager in a car agency who's got himself tangled up in some uncomfortable debts, unbeknownst to any member of his family. Jerry decides to do what every rational person would do in his place, and pay some criminals to kidnap his wife, so he can make his rich father-in-law pay a hefty ransom which will mostly go straight to Jerry's pocket. As one might've expected, things go awry rather quickly, and the situation gets quite hot in the snow-covered streets of Minnesota.

I'd categorize this film as a blend of comedy and crime-centered drama, and it has a certain vibe that I think might just be this Coen-Brothers humor I've been hearing about. I can't quite put my finger on why, but the humor is really unique. The best way to put it I can think of is that the humor isn't based on any grand, over-the-top stuff, and not on jokes that characters tell, but rather on the fact that characters just act in a way that's slightly...off, and their dialogue bounces off of other characters really well. It's a quirky kind of humor, but it has a lot of charm and it works quite well for me.

Talking about the humor not being grand and extravagant, it brings us to another point - this film's minimalism. Everything here, both story-wise and cinematography-wise, is pretty minimalistic. It makes a lot of sense from a narrative standpoint, since the characters' weird behavior might be explained by them being stuck in this bleak town with static noise in the background of their day-to-day lives, but besides that, it just makes this film feel more special. Fargo manages to be really well-made without looking for this all-out, spectacle vibes. I like it quite a bit. The scene near the Paul Bunyan statue, you know the one if you've seen the film, is soooo good looking even though It doesn't show much, really. Beautiful.

The story's end feels a little weird, maybe because it's not that cathartic, but it goes well with the feeling that every character here has a life of itself, both before the film begins and after the film ends. Stories don't always have a perfect, neat ending, and it's fine, too.

My point is: Fargo is a quirky blend of comedy and crime-centered drama, and it has a unique sense of humor and a cool minimalistic approach that has a lot of charm. I find it enjoyable, and I definitely plan on checking out other films of the Coen Brothers in the future. I'm feeling a 7.4/10 on this one.