Fargo is a curious wacky but dark crime thriller.

The Coen Brothers build on their previous noir crime movies and play around with the conventions. They do this by imbuing it with some bizarro characters.

Jerry Lundegaard (William H Macy) is an executive car dealer with a rich father in law. He enlists two wacko hoods. The talkative Carl (Steve Buscemi) and the quieter Gaear (Peter Stormare) to kidnap his wife.

Jerry hopes to split the ransom money with the hoods but the plan goes awry. Carl and Gaear leave a trail of bodies behind.

Heavily pregnant Brainerd police chief Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) investigates the murders. The victims includes a state trooper.

There is little by way of background to the characters. Jerry seems to be running some kind of car scam, he is in debt and has a business investment where he wants his father in law to lend him some money. It is clear that nervy Jerry is way over his head with his mad bad plan.

The snowy landscapes of Minneapolis, the mock Scandinavian accents all give the movie some distinction. Despite some humour which mainly comes from a cool kooky Marge. This is a misanthropic film.

The dead bodies pile up and the killings become nastier as the movie goes on. It was an accomplished movie from the Coens who were still regarded as Independent filmmakers. It is just that Fargo is a difficult film to like.