Fargo (1996) *DELVES* Into Dichotomies! - First Time Watching - Movie Reaction/Review

[@otacon6566]

"There's more to life than money ya' know....and here ya'are....and it's a beautiful day."

[@PillarOfWamuu]

I love how understated that line is. Really tears down the whole situation. Reminds me of Die hard at the finale when John confronts Hans as he holds Molly hostage. "That's what this is all about Hans? A fucking robbery?!"

[@williambryan3346]

@@PillarOfWamuu *Holly, not Molly. 😁

[@elizabethstrong6057]

It's so funny that she's admonishing a murderer like he is a child, and he has this look on his face like he wishes that shot had killed him rather than having to listen to her talk 😂

[@jeffdicello9242]

Many people can never quite figure out the purpose of the encounter that Marge has with Mike Yanagita in Minneapolis. Marge is a good person and assumes that Mike is too, When she finds that he appeared to be good but was actually a scumbag, it causes her to re-think her conclusions about the William H. Macy character.... I think.

[@lizd2943]

Yeah right after she finds out the truth about Mike she's driving in her car and gets kind of a "hmmmm" look on her face and goes to see Jerry.

[@Sophie-ge7ti]

I always though this was such a weird thing for Marge to "figure out" though. She's a super smart cop, but never before realized that sometimes, people lie?!?

[@albertjimeno5315]

@Sophie-ge7ti But you know how sometimes one thought just leads to another? Happens to everyone.

[@Arsolon618]

@@Sophie-ge7ti I think the point is that in small town Brainerd crimes like this rarely happen. She comments as much to her partner when they first find the bodies on the road, that the perpetrators are probably not from there. By that same token, it was probably rare to run into a criminal like Jerry who could lie through his teeth like that because he's a car salesman.

[@ddiamondr1]

Not a true story, but such an atmospheric movie. I love this movie. I can’t even count how many times I’ve seen it. Brilliant. William H Macy said all of the dialogue was written, including all of the pauses, and the hemming and hawing and ‘uhs’ and ‘ums’ his character said. Frances McDormand. Absolutely brilliant. Every character is so brilliantly defined.

[@ddiamondr1]

@ apparently it was a compilation of different cases.

[@Whitebrowpriest]

Fargo was definitely one of the best movies I've ever seen, in its genre. Top notch filmmaking.

[@diogenesagogo]

This is a morality tale. True love - mundane, everyday, commonplace - trumps anything else you could ever have, especially "a little bit pf money".

[@cosdead46]

8:05 Well, now you understand the joke in The Big Lebowski

[@TheAtomicAgeCM]

oh ya, this is a good one there, gosh darn

[@Ceractucus]

This movie came out right before Big Lebowski (which I saw your reaction to). In this movie Buscemi never stops talking, so in BL Buscemi plays Donny, who rarely speaks at all and whenever he does Walter tells him :STFU Donny"!

[@sanddab]

Fun fact: the Coen Brothers are from Minnesota, so the “Minnesota Nice” accent is something they know well.

[@billolsen4360]

Oh, yaaaaa!

[@michellelamar8965]

So I'm half Minnesotan. I say this because its such a distinct culture almost like having a parent from another country lol. If you were wondering, yes people do speak that way (accent plus overall way of speaking) in the smaller towns in the north of Minnesota. I had Aunts and uncles that spoke like they were straight from this movie. Incidentally, you were speaking of the series. The first season (at least the first episode I saw) takes place in my dad's hometown of Bemidji, where he was born and raised, where we visited each year. Love Bemidji.

[@grimtea1715]

Bemidji is the best!

[@philpaine3068]

@@grimtea1715 I'm from Northern Ontario, and the north Minnesota dialect is similar, but not quite the same. Anything in between Thunder Bay and Kenora is pretty close to it. Fargo was music to my ears, because I rarely get to hear the voice of that general region in movies.

[@hannejeppesen1809]

Jerry is not ashamed. He doesn't have that in him.

[@a35362]

William H. Macy will be forever associated with this movie. He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for this role. He also appeared in Boogie Nights (1997), Pleasantville (1998), The Cooler (2003), and a bunch more. I think the Coens later admitted it wasn't really based on a true story, or maybe only that the plot is based on true events, but all the characters are fictional.

[@TheCrayonMaster]

I highly recommend Cellular (2004) with William H. Macy and Chris Evans.

[@alissageorge5679]

The big blonde silent guy is played by Peter Stormare that plays Satan in Constantine with Keanu Reeves. I love him in that roll.

[@flarrfan]

Also the chief "nihilist" in Lebowski...

[@alissageorge5679]

@@flarrfan facts!

[@hannejeppesen1809]

Peter Stormare is Swedish.

[@kristin1533]

He plays one of the inmates in the series Prison Break from the early or mid 2000s.

[@gluecement]

Fargo TV series would be a perfect addition to the channel since each season is a stand-alone story.

[@KelliFranklin]

Frances McDormand was just wonderful in this movie!

[@brentfreeland5834]

A pun isn't completely mature until it's fully groan .

[@danawinsor1380]

Grooooooan.

[@TheAndroidBishop]

Flawless victory

[@elizabethstrong6057]

It's so funny that she's admonishing a murderer like he is a child, and he has this look on his face like he wishes that shot had killed him rather than having to listen to her talk 😂

[@shainewhite2781]

Nominated for 7 Oscars including Best Picture, but won for Best Actress Frances McDormand, and Best Original Screenplay

[@ThePloppy]

I love the fact that they didn't understand the phrase "Oh, daddy." but like a minute later Zay says, "Oh, brother." Same connotation, Zay! lol

[@rebeccageorgesisto8965]

You have GOT to watch the series (Season 1 is phenomenal). The series has the tone and vibe of the movie but that’s it…but you DO find out what happened to the money Steve Buscemi buried.

[@backforblood3421]

The fact that a body was disposed of in a woodchipper is the only part of the movie that's a true story.

[@hitchcockisthegoat]

You guys should definitely watch Fargo Season 1 now, especially while this movie is still fresh in your head. A lot of similar characters who get in over their head. And also tie-ins and Easter eggs to the movie.

[@korybeavers6528]

Your third Coen Bros film? Raising Arizona should be next

[@flarrfan]

And for something completely different ( and in IMO better) try O Brother Where Art Thou...When you get around to it, be sure to read a Wiki summary of the plot of Homer's Odyssey first. O Brother is a magical modern adaptation of the Odyssey.

[@isaacs3822]

And Millers Crossing, arguably the most underrated movie of all time

[@albertjimeno5315]

@flarrfan O Brother Where Art Thou is a sickening movie that promotes animal cruelty.

[@flarrfan]

@@albertjimeno5315 Based on The Odyssey, where animals are killed. See the PETA vs. Coens controversy where they had to prove the cow hit by the car was digitized. It's a brilliant adaptation to semi-modern times.

[@albertjimeno5315]

@flarrfan On second thought now that I think about it, just because a movie shows a character do something doesn’t mean it promotes it. I referred to the cow scene and also to a scene with a frog, but looks like I wasn’t the only one so angered since PETA intervened. I feel like ‘O Brother’ and ‘Fargo’ both have Tarantino influence on the sudden shots of violence. I did appreciate the ‘30s rural Southern look and vibe of ‘O Brother’ and the old-time music in it.

[@norwegianblue2017]

One of the best movies from my favorite living director(s).

[@lulugaga10]

I recommended that you guys watch this over a year and a half ago, so about time you got to it! 😌 This is one of my all-time favorite movies. Happy you liked it, and glad you are now aware of the wood chipper part since it's considered one of the most iconic movie scenes ever. I taped this on VHS when I was a kid, and the TV version I had cut all the parts with Mike, her former classmate that she went to dinner with. That was always the one thing I thought was weird and out of place, so I preferred my version better.

[@scottjo63]

The scene with Mike is supposed to be taken into a different sort of context. When Marge found out about Mike, she thought more about the story that Macy's character threw at her. She then requestions Macy's character, hence the scene where he takes off fleeing her.

[@patrickj.mitchell95]

You guys are friggin’ Hilarious! 😁 Love your reactions. Keep it going, Young Skywalkers. 🎥🍿

[@2stoned78]

I would recommend Blood Simple. Another classic Cohen Bros.

[@rachelneviaser4948]

the midwest aesthetic is so painfully real

[@SC-gp7kt]

You betcha it is! 😂

[@williambryan3346]

@@SC-gp7kt Oh, yah! 😁

[@isaacs3822]

Oh for sure

[@jeffbassin630]

Congrats! You both nailed the brilliance of this Cohen Brother movie! Frances McDormand won a well-deserved Academy award for Best Actress. As you pointed out, the acting was totally brilliant by each actor in "Fargo."'

[@veggiesarefruits]

I'd also like to point out something interesting, from the pov of a Linguistics B.A. grad (and still huge language nerd, and some interesting facts about Peter Stormare's time in this region). The accent that can be heard in places like Minnesota and North Dakota comes from the massive settlement of Scandinavian immigrants (particularly Swedish and Norwegians), fleeing poverty. For example, they still say, "Ya!" which comes from "Ja!" (yes in both Swedish and Norwegian). The sing-song inflection, the emphasis they put on certain words, it all lines up with Scandinavian phrasing. Peter Stormare had a profound experience spending his free time in Minnesota. He got truly emotional when he just so happened to find an old man who was originally from the same small town in Sweden, as him. The old man had not heard ANYONE speaking in his specific dialect, since he was very young. The old man started crying. Stormare was so excited about being in this region of America, that he got a map and visited as many towns with the same names as those in Sweden, including a tiny town called "Stockholm" (the capital of Sweden). It was apparently life-changing for him. ❤

[@emilsitka9537]

The King of Clubs used to be on Central Avenue in NE Minneapolis. It was torn down soon after this movie was made. The restaurant where Jerry, Wade and Stan discuss the kidnapping has also been torn down. I ate there several times. The staff was blissfully unaware that it appeared in an Oscar winning film.

[@davidmenke7552]

This is my 4th favorite movie of all time! I can watch it ANYTIME. Marge Gunderson is one of my favorite characters in film. So glad you guys are watching it.

[@RadovanRytíř]

Marge is the best :)

[@SporkRevolution]

What are the other 3?

[@mr_k4tz]

Frances McDormand just happens to be married to Joel Coen. You guys should check her performance in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri. She and Sam Rockwell are both amazing in that movie.

[@bauertime]

I'm 63 and the Fargo series is one of the best shows ever.

[@AbsoluteApril]

Aspects of the movie based on real events but the full thing is not actually 'true' :D so excited you checked this out!

[@tylerlucas3752]

Oh I am very happy that Cam & Zay are reacting to this fantastic film!! I'm excited for this reaction... it will be a classic.

[@d.-_-.b]

It already is, dawncha gnaw.

[@abc123tiktok]

For 10 years straight my family watched this movie on thanksgiving. It was my grandfathers favorite movie and just couldn't stop quoting it.

[@dizzynikki5912]

Thanks for getting back to good movies..

[@miderg]

Peter Stormare (bad blond) played one of the anarchists (hit with a bowling bowl) in Big Lebowski.

[@jeffdicello9242]

So far you're hitting all the right cuts

[@leew6091]

Francis absolutely earned the Oscar for this....superb acting. Top class film.

[@joecortes7142]

Great movie and great reactions. Classic movie. Raising Arizona is another favorite of mine

[@starryeye6511]

The bad guy with the bleached hair 'Gaear' looks like the love child of Judd Nelson and Bruce Willis...lol

[@musicaleuphoria8699]

He kinda looks like he could be potentially Ryan Gosling's father.

[@TheJoujou5555]

Peter Stormare. Swedish actor. He's been a lot of big movies. Usually "that kind of" character. My favorite is Dino Velvet from 8mm. Reactors should "find" that movie!!!

[@WeerdMunkee]

@@TheJoujou5555 Peter Stormare is one of those "character actors" that never get the credit they deserve! For instance, Uli (aka Karl Hungus) in Log Jammin', in, Big Lebowski!

[@jamesvonborcke]

I'd add to the Stormare list one of the best portrayals of Lucifer ever to appear on screen in _Constantine._

[@RustyX2010]

He was in a scene with Bruce Willis in the movie "Armageddon"!

[@veggiesarefruits]

Oh, this is a classic Coen Brothers movie! It's absolutely HILARIOUS. The great dark humor of the Coens is top-notch. My top two Coen films. The cinematography of 'Fargo' is absolutely breathtaking.

[@harryrabbit2870]

Good reaction. One of the things I like about the Coen Bros movies is the simple but massively effective technique of allowing the characters and their personalities to drive the story. Note the contrast between the simple but honest lives of Marge and her husband to the greedy, dishonest, convoluted schemes of nearly everybody else. The tragedy is that the innocent are the only real victims. Everybody else pretty much got what they deserved, as if chance and chaos destroy good and bad alike. It's a pretty dark world view.

[@GranFelicia]

ohhh this is gonna be good!!

[@bretthrockmorton7727]

if you haven't seen it yet, give "Blood Simple" a look, one of the earlier Coen Brothers movie...

[@jeffdicello9242]

William H. Macy's performance was superb. One minute he had you feeling sorry for him, the next he made you hate him, and at other times, both emotions competed with each other. Not sure any other actor could do that.

[@Dylan_Platt]

You guys are Fargoing straight to the top with puns like those! 😂

[@WeerdMunkee]

🤨

[@flarrfan]

In case no one else has mentioned this, the brief case with the money was the same case as the Coens used in No Country for Old Men.

[@Flushest_Saucer]

The two of you reacting is by far the best reactions i've ever seen. I shit you not! Great insight, Great work. And you're clever and funny as.. ( Place exploitive here). Good on you.

[@Zseventyone]

He knew what happened when he got home. He was looking around to see how it went.

[@mostlyharmless1]

Jerry Lundegaard and Margie, those accents are classic!

[@kevinehle6637]

Absolute classic! 💯

[@paulcook1494]

Margies husband Norm, also played Walts barber in Gran Torino You guys have such a beautiful friendship.

[@TheAquaponic1]

Watch the movie again while going to bed in the summer and your room will magically cool off! Lol, seriously.... Great reaction guys.

[@mikephotos225]

Trivia: Before Steve Buscemi (bad guy Carl) was an actor, he was a New York City firefighter. After 911, he went back to his old fire company and volunteered for a couple of weeks helping them look for survivors of the tower collapses.

[@mitzifrancis9843]

Love Marge!❤ She embodies so many of the women I was fortunate to be surronded by growing up in a suburb of Minneapolis, especially my Mom. Great movie and reaction, thanks!

[@prp2]

Ethan Coen first explained why the pair added the "true story" disclaimer to the film, saying, "We wanted to make a movie just in the genre of a true story movie. You don't have to have a true story to make a true story movie." Still, it turns out "Fargo" may be more realistic than you think. "There are actually two little elements in the story that were based on actual incidents," Joel Coen told HuffPost. "One of them is the fact that there was a guy, I believe in the '60s or '70s, who was gumming up serial numbers for cars and defrauding the General Motors Finance Corporation. There was no kidnapping. There was no murder. It was a guy defrauding the GM Finance Corporation at some point." He continued, "The other thing based on something real: There was a murder in Connecticut, where a man killed his wife and disposed of the body -- put her into a wood chipper. But beyond that, the story is made up." -- can't get more definitively than that. Also explains why the series carried on "true story" narrative.

[@auntvesuvi3872]

Many thanks to Cameron and Isaiah! ❄ Writers/directors Joel and Ethan Coen are always effective for me.

[@bellac1451]

I'd recommend "The Ref", you guys would friggin die laughing.

[@TheTerryGene]

If you want to find out what happened to the buried money, you have to watch the first season of the Fargo TV series. It’s not a major plot point but a neat Easter Egg. Billy Bob Thornton and Martin Freeman are great in it. Joel and Ethan Coen are not the show runners but they are the executive producers.

[@Jonz808]

Fargo is one of my favorite films and the TV series is just as fun to watch. Frances McDormand won the Oscar for this role. The first of three Oscars.

[@silikon2]

I find it a fun game to try to add up Jerry's body count in my head without looking at the movie. He's extra toasty toast.

[@in6087]

One of my personal faves by the Coen brothers is the Hudsucker Proxy. Has a great script.

[@NoCreamedCorn]

I kind of like that you’ve worked backwards with the Coen bros. If you like McDormand, she is fantastic in Blood Simple, which was the Coens’ first film. This though, is an utter American classic. Ranked 84 in AFI’s Top 100 Films. And it does get even better with each rewatch.

[@dudermcdudeface3674]

This role got Frances McDormand typecast as a mom type forever (see "Almost Famous" for another great version). That's the Catch 22 of doing something that perfectly.

[@hannejeppesen1809]

Jerry Lundegaard is played by William Macy.

[@deckofcards87]

This movie has of the smartest screenplays ever written. And the cast is unforgettable.

[@jeffdicello9242]

This is a mature step for you guys. 👍👍

[@WeerdMunkee]

This is a mature step for you guys. 👍👍

[@mbcoll8154]

You have to do a script to center on the characters but with a dead trooper and the connections to that dealership, there would have been massive pressure, subpoenas and the entire state on red alert to get those guys.

[@TedBrogan]

28:19 Fuck that guy! LOL I lost it 🤣🤣 "It's Mike Nagagitaa!!!"

[@MelissaDisha]

That pun was good 😂! This was a great movie! I flew for a major airline called Northwest. We had maintenance bases in Fargo and Duluth. Nothing is as cold as a Feburary night in Fargo, North Dakota! Great town though! Friendly people. The string of dead people these guys left behind was crazy. The way they escalated everything was unbelievable.

[@madelinemitchell5102]

Love this movie 🍿 ❤!!

[@DoktorStrangelove]

I have a bachelor’s from Iowa State. We had more than a few Minnesota kids there. Before this movie was released, a bunch of us were hanging in my dorm room, and a girl from Minnesota was there-and we knew she was from there from the accent. Everyone started with “OH YAH, REAL GOOD” and such. She yelled, in the heaviest possible MN accent, “WE DON’T TALK LIKE THAT, THAT’S JUST OLD NORWEIGIANS!” There was a beat, and everyone cracked up.

[@frankmahovlich5099]

Enjoyed your reaction. You betcha!

[@TheTLElliott]

The "true story" note at the start lets the Coen brothers shoot this almost as a documentary. And the dialogue between the couple and the car dealer is pretty much the conversation Joel Coen had at one point when he was buying a car. But otherwise no, not true.

[@bhplaisance7451]

Coen brothers are so good, the next one by them you guys need to check out is Raising Arizona. It’s the Coen’s take on comedy. I’ve got it in top ten comedies of all time.

[@TennSeven]

Son of a Gunderson!

[@patm5594]

The Coen brothers are amazing filmmakers, and this is one of my favorite all-time movies.

[@jamessellers8472]

The series first 3 seasons are fantastic, I don’t remember season 4 very well, but it was pretty good too from what I remember, season five was pretty good as well. I’d give them a watch and prepare to be blown away, they are true stories from different decades

[@craigplatel813]

He needs the money because he's been scamming the finance company with false car sales. The finance company calls him twice about the vin numbers of the cars.

[@damaniqphillip2756]

Awesome ❤

[@almostlivechannelkjlw-42pr4]

I love this movie 🎬 glad you guys did a video on this.

[@djingodjango]

Thought it was a great shot of Peter Storemare in the back of the police car glancing up at the statue of Paul Bunyan soon after he hit Steve Buscemi with the axe.

[@fauxrowsdower7610]

Jerry's selfish obliviousness is so awful, honestly on the rewatch his father-in-law's open distaste for him feels so deserved lmfao

[@rg3388]

You’re right about LEBOWSKI. I love how much that film recalls this one: Both films have a million-dollar ransom for a wife. In both films, Steve Buscemi says, “in and out.” Peter Stormare wants pancakes in both films. In Malibu, The Dude gets the Shep Proudfoot treatment (beaten on the floor). Bunny Lebowski is originally from Moorhead, Minnesota, the city next to . . . Fargo. The Dude is eager to give 4 dollars because Carl is reluctant to give 4 dollars. (Likewise, Anton is charged 69 cents in NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN because The Dude writes a check for that amount.)

[@lizd2943]

I love that at some point in the process the Coen brothers must have said to Steve Buscemi "Hey is it ok if we just have people call you funny looking all through the movie?" and he was like "Yeah that's fine."

[@michellenothnagel7355]

A movie with a similar vibe is "The Big White". It stars Robin Williams, Holly Hunter, and Giovanni Ribisi, as well as other beloved actors. I love it. I think you guys would too; and nobody else has ever reacted to it.

[@bura19]

If you want to react to two other GREAT Frances McDormand performances, I highly recommend Mississippi Burning (1983, Willem Dafoe, Gene Hackman, Frances M) and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri (2017, Frances M, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson). Both are great movies that cover tough subjects.

[@Replicaate]

The TV series of the same name is also fantastic, highly recommend it. Each season is its own self-contained crime story, all connected to the movie in various ways. The most recent season was probably the best yet, though season 1 and 2 are probably my personal favorites.

[@pollynicklas5220]

4:12 That bar is in Minneapolis, I've seen it numerous times! Sane goes with numerous locations in this movie cuz I'm from the Twin Cities! Lol Btw I've never heard anybody with that exaggerated accent, or even a slight accent!

[@leehallam9365]

Its a great film, I think its the film that put the idea of a Cohen Brother's film in the public imagination. They had had hits before, but this just raised their profile above being just another pair of film makers. They followed it with The Big Lebowski and Oh Brother Where Art Thou which reinforced that. Though they did mess up with their remake of the 1957 British classic, The Ladykillers, you should check out the original. A comedy caper starring Sir Alec Guiness, Peter Sellers and Herbert Lom, its fantastic. I would like comment on what a great job you do editing your reactions, you really have a knack for keeping in the essentials so that the movie still flows and makes sense. It's a real skill that many movie reactors lack.

[@buddinganarchist]

Ya Betcha is the new Go Ahead, Make My Day.

[@Cliffster420]

I love this movie, it's a little odd but IMO the more you watch it the more you fall in love with the characters, story and dialog.

[@travisbickle1552]

Great film. In my top 3 Coen Bros films. However, my favorite is “Miller’s Crossing” which is rarely reacted to. I think it’s only because it’s not often available on streaming services. The Coen bros have a TON of good movies, but only a handful get steady rotation on streaming. But i think you guys would like it if you can find it.

[@tibb75]

Okay, I loved that intro. I love that shit

[@DavidSmith-ez4pk]

You guys should check out "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing.." Francis McDormand is PERFECT! Two others should check out are "Identity" and "Bad Times At The El Royal" though they don't include her, but other great actors.

[@dgunn2817]

Great reaction. Crazy movie.

[@gregorygant4242]

Oh yeaaah? Yeaah ! Oh yeaaah ? Yeaaah , you bet ya !

[@bethscott4330]

“for Pete’s sake” 😂