Artist Fargo

While not as much of a downer as their Best Picture-winning No Country For Old Men, the Coen brothers’ 1996 film Fargo isn’t exactly a pick-me-up. Frances McDormand earned a well-deserved Oscar for her pitch-perfect portrayal of Margie Gunderson, the cheerful, pregnant police chief on the trail of bungling murderer/kidnappers Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare. William H. Macy rounds out the cast as a pathetic car salesman who resorts to painfully desperate measures to get himself out of hot water, with dire results. Set against a depressing backdrop of dirty white upper Midwestern winter, this black comedy thrilled audiences nationwide with the most hardcore Midwestern accents ever captured on celluloid.

Updated 07/29/2010