It is not the most realistic criminal romp ever carved out, but there is an underlying and even fundamental sincerity in its gallery of supporting characters and in the fumbling folksiness with which they interact in the chilly north of Minnesota. 'Fargo' is the reason Roger Ebert loves movies so much. Although I do not share his same gushing love for the film  or indeed, for the Coens  'Fargo' is so well-written, well-acted, well-executed and well-condensed that I find no tangible reason for why I should not feel this way about it.

The title 'Fargo', much like its story, is misplaced. It briefly opens in Fargo, North Dakota but soon plunges into the barren, frigid smalltown of Brainerd in Minnesota, capturing the chill atmosphere of the setting with effortless conviction, probably because the Coens grew up in these North woods. Here Joel Coen directs and Ethan produces, but with deft, personal pen strokes by the both of them. They apply the same meticulous familiarity to their characters with Frances McDormand and William H. Macy in the front row, two smalltown people so heartwrenchingly sincere they completely carry the film.

William H. Macy is a push-over car-salesman with financial difficulties who resorts to hiring two sleazeball, violent but fumbling criminals to kidnap his wife to blackmail his domineering father-in-law. A talkative, neurotic and "funny-looking" Steve Buscemi and a hard-edged, strong-silent-type Peter Stormare (my country's finest export, for sure) botch their way through this kidnapping heist, killing three people in the process, which raises the stakes and sets Frances McDormand's tough (and 7-months pregnant) cop character Marge after them. She is an apt and no-nonsense chief, and one hell of a genuine, likable and cheerful character  quite possibly the best role written for a woman  rightfully earning her an Oscar for Best Lead Actress.

Macy was also nominated as Best Supporting Actor and it is a crime he did not win it. Here is a pathetic and realistic middle-aged small-town car sales executive, under the thumb of his father-in-law and desperate for a little bit of money to gain some dignity. Macy's performance as Jerry Lundegaard is unspeakably emotive and had the Coens chose to, he could have carried Fargo all the way to the end by himself. As it is, there is no need for it. The Scandinavian names all ring true to me (as a Swede) and the local jargon is pleasantly peppered with "oh jeez", "dern tootin'", "ya", "you betcha" and "d'heck do you mean?". This is the Coens in their own element.

'Fargo' is a black comedy but it is never laugh-out-loud worthy, except in one of the early scenes in which a shocked Steven Buscemi exclaims "Oh daddy!" after Stormare has killed a cop in the heat of the moment. Most of the humour in fact stems from the underlying absurdity of the situations and the depth of its characters. It is probably an apt conclusion to draw that its success stems from the very same things.

8 out of 10