Fargo (1996)

A nominee for Best Picture of 1996, Fargo is one of the darkest comedies you'll ever see. The Coen Brothers have managed to tell an incredible story of the attempt by a car salesman (played by Willam H. Macy) to extort money from his wealthy but domineering father-in-law by having his wife kidnapped. Unfortunately, he hires two inept criminals (Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare) to help him carry out the plot. They manage to kill several people through a series of odd circumstances, leading to the involvement of the persistent and very pregnant Sheriff Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand). She quietly manages to track down the details of the pair's actions due to her particularly sharp instincts.

The script is filled with funny lines. My personal favorite involves the Sheriff's interview with the two hookers who spent a night with the criminals. Trying to get some sort of description from them, all she manages to glean is "the little guy was kinda funny looking." It's a line that gets repeated several times during the course of the interview, and then later in the movie is repeated by another character who's talking to a deputy. Of course, the script also manages to include some interesting physical comedy as well, if you like your comedy pretty dark. The most infamous (and still pretty shocking) image is the one involving the wood chipper. If you haven't yet seen the movie, you're likely to be surprised. How you react to that scene is probably the best indication of whether you think this is a comedy or not. This was a most deserving win for Best Original Screenplay (despite the words that appear at the beginning of the movie suggesting that it was "based on a true story"--another joke on the audience by the Coens).

After watching the movie again, I'm a bit surprised that McDormand was chosen as Best Actress for this role. It isn't that her performance is bad. She's clever and funny, and her facial expressions are priceless. She is very good indeed. It's just that it seems to be more of a supporting part than a lead role. She really only appears in the second half of the movie, and much of the action that takes place does not involve her directly. It was a somewhat weak year for lead female performances, but she managed to win over Brenda Blethyn's performance in Secrets & Lies and Emily Watson's in Breaking the Waves, both far more emotionally demanding parts. And that was the year of the sweep by The English Patient, which includes a great subtle performance by Kristin Scott Thomas.