The movie Fargo, a thriller by Joel & Ethan Coen is a film that incorporates humor suspense, and violence which leaves you with an "uh" felling at the end. I didn't know if I wanted to laugh, cover my eyes, scream or just leave the room. This is a murder mystery with a sick twisted, unexcpected plot that keeps you at the edge of your seat. .
The film opens with the coldness of the Minnesota winter in the middle of nowhere. Barely visible in the distance, an automobile moves along a highway and we follow the car to a roadside bar where Jerry Lundegaard, a pitiful, car salesman (played by William H. Macy) gets together with two criminals to arrange a kidnapping of his wife. The reason for the kidnapping is because the father in-law is very wealthy thus by rounding about some kidnappers and holding her for ransom, could make jerry's car lot dream a reality. As events unfold the kidnapping turns into a triple murder and then three more people die; one of them hacked to death with an axe. Another victim is ground up piece by piece in a wood chipper. Above it all is the Police Chief of Brainerd, Minnesota; Marge Gunderson (played by Frances McDormand) turns out to be the Sherlock Homes of the movie. Pregnant, fast-food addicted, devoted wife and mother to be, Gunderson single-handedly solves the mystery and brings the criminals to justice. But Fargo is a more powerful and moving film largely because its central characters bring out our sympathy towards them, even Jerry Lundegaard, who unwittingly turns the killers loose against his own family. Towards the end of the movie, Marge (played by Frances McDormand) Far from being triumphant in the face of evil, McDormand sums up the crime and says "so many deaths for only 40 grand" as she drives her captive off to jail. Truth, like life itself, is complicated. And when we are confronted by real life events like those depicted in this film, the answers to life's most puzzling questions seem far away indeed.
