Line #21 YMMV/Fargo


1	!!The Film:
2	* AccidentalAesop: The film makes a good argument about the fact that no matter what your circumstances are, trying to solve them by criminal means is a stupid, ''stupid'' thing to do. Jerry's life wasn't the best, but his hare-brained scheme made him lose everything: his family, his career, and his freedom.
3	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
4	** Is Jerry Lundegaard just a dumb AntiVillain who didn't think through all the possible ramifications of his [[ASimplePlan simple plan]], or is he a [[TheSociopath sociopath]] who really doesn't ''care'' how his plans will affect anyone else? Or is he [[ThenLetMeBeEvil lashing out after having borne the brunt of his father-in-law's abuse, and his plan is his attempt to overcompensate for the emasculation he's endured]]?
5	** After Marge arrests Grimsrud and delivers her monologue with him in the backseat, we see him just staring at her. Are Marge's words going totally over his head, or is he actually pondering what she's saying?
6	*** Similarly, does Grimsrud kill Carl because he refused to pay for half the car, or because Carl threatened his friend Shep? Or because he realizes Carl is a loose cannon who's become [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness more trouble than he's worth]]?
7	** Wade's refusal to hand over the ransom money as instructed. Is he too greedy to turn over such an immense sum when it could (and did) end up being for nothing? Or is he more concerned with his daughter's safety, and thought the money was his only bargaining chip toward getting her back alive? Or is he incredibly suspicious of Jerry's motives?
8	*** Is Wade dismissive of Jerry because he (kind of accurately) sees the guy as a total loser who doesn't deserve Jean? Or does he actually ''want'' Jerry to fail at life out of pure spite and overprotectiveness toward his own daughter? Cutting your son-in-law out of a decent business deal that he helped find you seems pretty cold-hearted, finder's fee or not.
9	* {{Anvilicious}}: There's more to life than money. Take pleasure from the simple things: good food, a warm bed, a job well done. This is shown with the subtlety of a sledgehammer, but as the film demonstrates, it's ''definitely'' a lesson to take to heart.
10	* AwardSnub:
11	** Though it won two well-earned UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s, many people are still annoyed that ''Film/TheEnglishPatient'' walked away with all the awards on Oscar night. Still, ''Fargo'' is now considered a classic on the Creator/AmericanFilmInstitute's 100 Greatest list, and preserved in the National Film Registry. Meanwhile, ''The English Patient'' is better remembered for inspiring an episode of ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}''.
12	** Some see Creator/WilliamHMacy's loss in the Best Supporting Actor category to Creator/CubaGoodingJr for ''Film/JerryMaguire'' to be this. Others find it odd that Macy was put here at all, as he's essentially the central protagonist before Marge arrives and was deserving of at least a Best Actor nomination, if not a win.
13	** To go along with this, Creator/SteveBuscemi failed to receive a Best Supporting Actor nomination. Leading man Macy being placed there no doubt hurt his chances.
14	** A subversion of sorts for the Independent Spirit Awards. ''Fargo'' swept the awards, but it had a budget of several million. The Awards then changed the rules so that there was a budget limit to qualify for nomination, not just not having a studio release it.
15	* BetterOnDVD: Although the film was of course well-received when released theatrically, a lot of the greatness of the film can only be uncovered and appreciated with repeat viewings.
16	* CatharsisFactor:
17	** Marge shooting Grimsrud in the leg. After all the people he's killed, it is a damn relief.
18	** Jerry's arrest, while somewhat pitiable, is still what he deserves for his selfish and cowardly behavior.
19	* CompleteMonster: [[RuthlessForeignGangsters Gaear Grimsrud]] is a heartless monster who will kill anyone for little reason. Brought in for a simple kidnap and ransom job, Grimsrud demonstrates his cruelty by [[CopKiller killing a cop]] because the man took too long to bribe, and then chases down and kills a couple who witnessed the murder, all [[TheStoic without any expression]]. Grimsrud later loses patience with the kidnapping victim and kills her simply because her crying got on his nerves. When he has a dispute with Carl Showalter over a car, Grimsrud [[MurderIsTheBestSolution just kills him]] [[AxCrazy with an axe]] and feeds his body into a woodchipper. When he's finally caught by the police, the heroine Marge Gunderson [[GoodCannotComprehendEvil is left stunned over how a human being could do the things Grimsrud has done for just "a little bit of money"]].
20	* CrossesTheLineTwice: People getting fed into a woodchipper should ''not'' be so comical.
21	** Neither should breaking into someone's room, [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown beating the crap out of them]], ''[[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown and strangling and whipping them with their own belt]]''.
22	* EnsembleDarkhorse: Norm. He’s sweet and caring in a movie full of despicable characters.
23	* EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory: There are a few arguments over what the lumberjack statue is supposed to represent.
24	* HarsherInHindsight: With the busting of Creator/WilliamHMacy's wife Creator/FelicityHuffman in the college bribing scandal, the former's character masterminding a scam may hit a little too close to home.
25	* HilariousInHindsight:
26	** To people who watched the film before 2008, UsefulNotes/SarahPalin talks like the people in ''Fargo''. To people who watched it after, the people in ''Fargo'' talk like Sarah Palin. Either way, you laugh (and cringe a little).[[note]]Alaskan accents have some coincidental similarities to Minnesota ones.[[https://www.npr.org/2008/10/02/95306504/palins-accent-examined]][[/note]]
27	** Fans of ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' were already well familiar with Minnesota accents, thanks to the riffing by Joel and the 'bots when making fun of Minnesotans, especially in ''Film/TheDayTheEarthFroze''.
28	** In the film, there's a father-in-law who has a dislike for his son-in-law named "[[WesternAnimation/RickandMorty Jerry]]".
29	* ItWasHisSled: Ask anyone who has even a passing knowledge of ''Fargo'', and they'll tell you it's "that movie where Steve Buscemi [[spoiler:gets shoved into a wood chipper]]."
30	* JerkassWoobie: Showalter is a crook [[spoiler:and later murderer]], but with his reactions to the insane stuff going on, it's clear he's just as out of his depth as Jerry.
31	* LoveToHate:
32	** Thanks to William Macy's brilliant acting, Jerry manages to come across as an incredible blend of pathetic, selfish, and weedy that the audience loves to tear down.
33	** Gaear Grimsrud, a down-to-earth and chillingly realistic take on a brutal psychopath with no real empathy for his victims.
34	** Carl Showalter for being a hilariously inept asshole of a crook played perfectly by Steve Buscemi.
35	* MisplacedAccent: The "Minnesotan" accents used by many of the characters are really more like bastardized Canadian accents, though RuleOfFunny is in full effect.
36	* MoralEventHorizon:
37	** Grimsrud shooting three people when he and Showalter are in danger of getting caught by the state trooper. And if those horrific yet pragmatic (at least the last two) killings didn't clue you in that this man's a monster, [[spoiler: his pointless, petty murder of Jean should.]] There's also the hinted possibility that he [[spoiler: [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil tried to rape Jean]], given the way he stares at her and his offhand remarks about her unexplained crying.]]
38	** Showalter shooting [[spoiler: Wade and the parking lot attendant]]. The former was at least [[spoiler: [[AssholeVictim a greedy idiot]] endangering both sides, but the latter was a total innocent.]]
39	** Jerry crosses it in the eyes of many with his idiotic scam. Even if he hadn't planned or wanted anyone to get hurt, he still placed in wife in a traumatic, dangerous situation for money that he could've just asked for. And though he's almost certainly right that Wade never would've given it to him, he still didn't bother asking Jean, who has her father's support and might've been able to get him the cash legitimately.
40	* OneSceneWonder:
41	** Mike Yanagita, the chipper and pathetic old classmate with a not-so-endearing crush.
42	** Mr. Mohra, the bartender who hilariously translates the angry outsider Carl's dialogue through a MinnesotaNice mouth.
43	* SpecialEffectsFailure: Unfortunately for the Coens, the movie was filmed during one of the warmest winters in decades, and they had to truck snow around and place it for certain shots. This is most evident during the scene where Carl steals a license plate at the airport parking lot. If you look beyond the lot, you can clearly see there’s no snow in the background. Remember that the movie was filmed before snow could’ve been easily, or cheaply, put in the shot digitally, so it’s understandable.
44	** When Carl [[spoiler: shoots Wade dead on the ground]] you can clearly seen he's using a gun loaded with blanks.
45	* {{Squick}}: Showalter [[spoiler:with a hole shot through his cheek]], and the sight and especially gruesome sound of [[spoiler:Showalter's leg being jammed into a woodchipper while the rest of his body lies shredded in a big red triangle spouting outward from said machine]].
46	* StrawmanHasAPoint:
47	** Wade has every right to not want to just give Jerry nearly a million unsecured dollars to build a parking lot. He’s even willing to give him a handsome finder’s fee even though he’s under zero legal obligation to do so.
48	** Wade again. He majorly screws up the money handoff by insisting on going himself, but regardless of the kidnappers insisting on dealing with Jerry only or not, Jerry is obviously way too much of a wimp to be the frontman on something like this. Also, Wade wanting confirmation of his daughter still being alive is a good point (doubly so since while the audience knows that Jerry being the frontman is not an issue due to him ''hiring'' the kidnappers, he won't ask for proof-of-life like Wade will, thinking she's fine and it's part of the plan).
49	* UnintentionalPeriodPiece:
50	** Norm Gunderson's consolation prize of having his painting picked for the 3-cent stamp used to cover the difference after postage hikes. In 2006, the USPS would adopt the Forever® stamp, obviating the need for these stopgap stamps.
51	** In only a few years, the overwhelming accessibility of cell phones would make several of the movie's plot points moot -- there would be no reason for Jerry to not give the crooks burner phones so he can get in touch just in case (though considering the way Jerry fouls things up as it is, he'd probably fail to do that, too). Another bit that wouldn’t work with cell phones: Jean having her house’s landline phone yanked out of her hands by the wire from underneath the door when she attempts to dial 911.
52	** Jerry’s car sales fraud is committed by faxing General Motors false car registration numbers that were handwritten to be as unreadable as possible. Nowadays it’s unlikely a car dealership would rely much on handwritten records, having every sale recorded digitally.
53	* TheWoobie:
54	** Jerry, for a while at least, even though his stupendous lack of foresight [[spoiler:results in his wife's death]]. This might make him more a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds.
55	** Jerry's wife is even more of a woobie. And his poor son.
56
57	!!Series:
58	%%
59	%%The "As a Whole" tab is for meta examples and examples dealing with character development over the course of more than one season. Plot development examples stay within their respective season pages, while plot comparisons can be put in the "As a Whole" tab.
60	%%
61	!!!As a whole
62	* {{Adorkable}}: Molly has her moments, like [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7xq_3cJi08 making small talk with an anecdote about spiders laying eggs in someone's neck.]]
63	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: See [[AwesomeMusic/{{Fargo}} the page]] for more details.
64	* AwesomenessWithdrawal: So far, there have been waits of well over a year between each season. Plus, it only looks to get worse in the future, with the show transitioning to a ''Series/{{Louie}}'' model and only coming back when and if Noah Hawley has a story worth telling.
65	* CompleteMonster: [[YMMV/FargoSeasonOne Lorne Malvo]]; [[YMMV/FargoSeasonThree V.M. Varga & Yuri Gurka]]; [[YMMV/FargoSeasonFour Owney "Yiddles" Milligan]]; [[YMMV/FargoSeasonFive Roy Tillman]]. See those pages for details.
66	* EnsembleDarkhorse: Mr. Wrench and Mr. Numbers, the quirky duo of henchmen. Many praise the actors's chemistry, their cool scenes, and their catchy theme music. It helps that in one way or another, [[spoiler:they're some of the only characters to have a presence in the first three seasons]].
67	* GrowingTheBeard: While Season 1 was well-received, Season 2's reception has been even better. The characters were more fleshed-out and complex and the action was ramped up for the climax. Many of the complaints, like how season 1 was too similar to the Coens's movie, and that many subplots were too detached, were rectified by making season 2 a more original, more cohesive whole.
68	* HarsherInHindsight: Lou suggests to Molly in the Season 1 premiere that she get a job as a hostess at his cafe, as "people in this world are less inclined to shoot a hostess than, say, an officer of the law." Come the season 2 premiere, [[spoiler:Rye Gerhardt's third victim and the third death of that season is none other than the hostess at the Waffle Hut]]. Lou investigated this crime, so he knew that getting shot was still a possibility.
69	* IronWoobie: Lou. In Season 2, he's obviously still troubled by his experiences in Vietnam, his wife's slowly dying, and the case is making him have some very unfortunate feelings about human nature. In Season 1, he can come off as something of a SadClown.
70	* StarTrekMovieCurse: A weird example, given how all four seasons of ''Fargo'' are well-regarded. However, the odd-numbered seasons had significant criticisms: ''[[Series/FargoSeasonOne Season 1]]'' sometimes had too many [[CallBack Call Backs]] to [[Film/{{Fargo}} the original movie]], and [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks even felt like a retread]] to some viewers. ''[[Series/FargoSeasonThree Season 3]]'' had a SlowPacedBeginning that made the season drag, and an AmbiguousEnding that upset some for a lack of closure. Both are in contrast to Season 2, which had near-universal acclaim for its more original plot and [[GreyAndGrayMorality complex character arcs]]. Finally broken with Season 4, which is generally considered the weakest, if still with merit.
71
72	!!!Season index
73	* [[YMMV/FargoSeasonOne Season 1]]
74	* [[YMMV/FargoSeasonTwo Season 2]]
75	* [[YMMV/FargoSeasonThree Season 3]]
76	* [[YMMV/FargoSeasonFour Season 4]]
77	* [[YMMV/FargoSeasonFive Season 5]]

Context YMMV / Fargo