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The Main Characters
--Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) is the police officer assigned to this little murder mystery.
--Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy) is the mind behind the kidnapping.
--Carl Showalter (Steve Buscemi) and Gaear Grimsrud (Peter Stormare) are the petty crooks that kidnapped Jean Lundegaard then murdered a cop who stopped them and the witnesses.
The Setting
All around Minnesota, and North Dakota. There are stops in Minneapolis, Brainerd and Fargo.
The Plot
For such a critically acclaimed film, it’s actually a pretty simple plot to follow. Jerry Lundegaard is an uncouth car dealer and is looking to make some quick cash through investments. Of course, he doesn’t have the cash for these investments. His wife’s father is wealthy but doesn’t like Jerry. So, he formulates a plot to have some crooks kidnap his wife and hold her ransom, with him getting half the money for his investments. They kidnap her, but on the way back to where they are going with her, a cop pulls them over. Gaear kills the cop and then has to kill the innocent witnesses. So there are three dead bodies on the highway and whom do they call? Marge Gunderson. A pregnant cop who has to piece together this murder mystery and untangle the entire situation.
Movie Review
The movie is already a decade old, can you believe it? Well, it’s the movie that pretty much catapulted William H. Macy, Frances McDormand and the Coens into a national spotlight. The movie is still as compelling 10 years later after multiple viewings. It’s a whimsical story that moves quickly and shows the quirkiness of the lead characters. Steve Buscemi is at his best as the crazy kidnapper and to this day William H. Macy hasn’t topped this performance. He pulls off the “dumb as stones” car dealer perfectly. Frances McDormand, not to be outdone, shines as the pregnant cop investigating this caper. The movie is also really funny, especially any scenes with Macy and Buscemi. 10 years later and the movie is still as compelling as ever. ****.
DVD Features
A) Extras
1) Audio Commentary
Director of Photography Roger A. Deakins does the commentary. The commentary is actually quite boring in my opinion. Absent from it are stories of the actors, things they did on set, and anything remotely humorous. He basically talks only about certain shots and he is silent for about 20% of the film. If you want to be a director of photography then I bet you would want to listen to it to hear him talk about different shots, how they were shot in different days, etc. If you want to be entertained, don’t have this on.
2) Documentary – “Minnesota Nice” (27:47)
Minnesota Nice is actually the politeness that permeates inhabitants of these small towns in Minnesota. It is actually a very good documentary that focuses on the actor’s opinions of the film, the accent, the director’s and all else in between. It is an excellent documentary on the fantastic film. A recommended viewing.
3) The Charlie Rose Show Segment (20:31)
This is an interview Charlie Rose had with the Coen’s and Frances McDormand on his own show. It’s a decent interview. They show some clips from the film. The Coens did most of the talking while Frances just sat in the background. It basically served its purpose in promoting the film.
4) Trivia Track
It’s the standard trivia track that pops up at spots in the film giving trivia on everything ranging from the actors, the directors, the places they shot at, fun facts surrounding the film, etc. If you have time to sit and read it, there are some cool things you’ll learn.
5) Photo Gallery
It’s photos from the set it seems.
6) Advertising Gallery
---A) Theatrical Trailer (2:04)
The trailer is not remastered for DVD and it’s really dark, like it was copied from a VHS. The difference between this and the DVD is night and day. Look especially at how dark the shots with the snow background. It summarizes the movie well though.
---B) TV Spot (:34)
It’s a 34 second commercial. It’s pretty funny actually.
---C) American Cinematographer Article
This is an article on Robert Deakins basically. It’s a little long but an interesting read.
7) Blue Velvet Special Edition DVD Trailer (1:19)
This is an ad for the Special Edition DVD. I’ve never even heard of this movie. Based on the trailer, I don’t want to see it either.
B) Audio/Video
The audio is heard with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround. Pretty decent if not standard. It’s not the type of movie that requires the booming surrounds, but it serves it purpose well. The move is presented in both widescreen (16:9 ratio) and fullscreen. I watched both and they are both pretty much the same. I will always prefer widescreen but both show are excellently played. The movie is shot with a snow background, which causes some very bright lights, and the film handles it spectacularly. Even the scenes in the dark are played out well too. Excellent transfer on this DVD.
C) Liner Notes
There’s a slipcase that stores the DVD case, which is all white (like snow) except showing the characters on the front and the back, which is neat. There is also a four-page liner note on the film with the cover showing relevant items from the film (the fax from Jerry for example) and the back showing the chapter listing. The inside two pages have some information on the movie, the actor’s and the director’s and is a good read. Furthermore, the DVD has a front and back cover that if you take out, is a map of the relevant locations in the movie.
D) Easter Eggs
1) Alternate Menu
Go To Special Features and highlight any of the special features. Hit left on the remote to highlight any of the special features. Hit left on the remote to highlight the snow globe to get a snow globe menu. Furthermore, if you go to scene selections and highlight main menu and click up, you highlight a dead fly. Hit enter and it brings you back to the original screen.
Overall Review
What else could I say, ya know? It’s the best movie of 1995 and gets a good DVD treatment. The commentary was bit boring for my tastes but everything else was pretty much awesome. The making of was fantastic, and the interview was a nice touch. The other features rounded out the disc nicely. To be honest though, for a special edition, I thought there’d be more. Maybe a Coen’s commentary, some deleted scenes, or whatever. That’s just a minor gripe though. The movie was amazing and what is here makes this easily recommended.
Overall Rating
8.0
10.0 Perfect
9.0-9.5 Near Perfect, Highly Recommended
8.0-8.5 Really good disc, Recommended
7.0-7.5 Good DVD, Mildly recommended
6.0-6.5 Above Average DVD. Mildest of mild recommendations
5.0-5.5 Decent all around disc, but catch it on TV
4.0-4.5 Great Movie but horrible DVD
3.0-3.5 Horrible movie but great DVD
2.0-2.5 There’s at least some merit to this DVD, but not much.
1.0-1.5 Horrible DVD, don’t even bother
0.0-0.5 Worst DVD ever
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