Fargo (1996) is, in many respects, the reason I started The Legionnaire.  When it was released, it garnered critical and popular attention, nominated for six Academy Awards (winning two) and developing a cult following.  The former has contributed to enlarging the latter, with it spawning a multi-season television show of the same name (2014-2024).  Because of its renown, I am drawn to discussing it because at the core of my mission with this blog is to take from the broader culture what I can to reveal how God could be acting through it.  Ultimately, it is up to you to reach your own conclusions.  I am simply here to offer my view on these films.  As with all of them, I see them through a Catholic filter that often has me wondering why anyone likes certain ones.  In this regard, Fargo contains much that is puzzling.  At the same time, it has enough of a moral center that makes it an interesting movie to discuss.

Then again, it opens in Fargo, North Dakota, so how interesting can it be?  That is being unkind to my fellow Midwesterners.  One of them, car salesman Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy), has traveled to the remote, eponymous location with another vehicle in tow to meet with Gaear Grimsrud (Peter Stormare) and Carl Showalter (Steve Buscemi). Carl and Gaear are hitmen, but Jerry is not the kind of person one would typically expect to be consorting with criminals.  Jerry is apologetic for being late, and patiently answers their agitated questions about the parameters of his scheme.  The otherwise polite car dealer wants Carl and Gaear to kidnap Jean Lundegaard (Kristin Rudrüd).  Because Jean’s father, Wade Gustafson (Harve Presnell), is wealthy, Jerry thinks he can get the money he desperately needs for a real-estate venture with this scheme from his father-in-law.  With the parameters set, Jerry returns home.  He is somewhat surprised to find Stan there, but Jerry takes the opportunity to discuss his investment idea.  The next morning, Wade calls Jerry to come to the former’s office.  Jerry believes that Wade is going to offer the $750,000 for the full project, and thus Carl and Gaear are no longer needed.  However, when Jerry goes to Shep Proudfoot (Steve Reevis), the dealership mechanic that referred Jerry to the hitmen, the salesmen is informed that the kidnappers cannot be reached.  Instead of digging further, Jerry goes to Wade’s office and is again befuddled when Wade’s partner, Stan Grossman (Larry Brandenburg), offers a meager finder’s fee instead of the windfall Jerry expected.  While Jerry is with Stan and Wade, Carl and Gaear get to the Lundegaard household.  A brief struggle ensues as Jean attempts to evade capture, but she is taken after she falls down the staircase and is rendered unconscious.  When Jerry returns to the house, he rehearses a few times what to say to Wade before calling his wife’s dad.  Instead of getting the police involved, as the Lundegaard’s teenaged son Scotty (Tony Denman) suggests, Jerry keeps to the plan.  The same outline is given to Wade, who is more than willing to pay the ransom to get back his daughter, but wants to take a more active role in the proceedings.  Because Jerry had been told to be the one to handle everything, he fervently tells Wade to leave interactions with the kidnappers to the husband.  Jerry is trying to instill calm, but meanwhile Carl and Gaear are pulled over by a state highway patrolman on a lonely Minnesotan road outside of Brainerd.  When the questioning is complicated by their car’s tag situation, Gaear murders the cop.  As Carl is trying to drag the body off the road, another vehicle passes them and clearly sees Carl and Gaear.  Again, it is Gaear that takes action, tracking down the passersby and killing them.  In the early hours of the following morning, the incident is referred to Brainerd police chief Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand).  The pregnant officer gets out of bed to do her duty, but is seen off with an adequate breakfast by her caring husband, Norm Gunderson (John Carroll Lynch).  Upon examining the scene, we see that Chief Gunderson is more perceptive than you might expect from rural law enforcement.  It does not take her long to figure out the sequence of events and the trail takes her to Minneapolis.  As she makes her way to the Twin Cities, Carl and Gaear settle into their hideout near Brainerd.  Carl is chosen to travel to Minneapolis to collect the ransom.  Yet, the pressure placed on Jerry has him telling Wade that Carl is demanding more money.  It complicates the potential exchange and leads to Wade insisting that he be the bagman.  Hence, when Wade shows up at the drop instead of Jerry, Carl murders Wade, though is severely wounded in the process.  As this goes on, Chief Gunderson appears at Jerry’s dealership and begins asking questions.  When it comes to the missing cars, one of which Jerry gave to Carl and Gaear off the lot, Jerry pretends like he is going to do a thorough search.  Instead, he flees his place of employment.  With nothing else to do, Chief Gunderson heads back to Brainerd.  Along the way, she hears a tip about a potential location in town where the kidnappers could be hiding.  Passing by the place, she spots the other missing car.  As she carefully makes her way towards the house, the sound of heavy machinery can be heard.  In the back yard, Gaear is stuffing Carl’s body into a woodchipper.  Though Gaear tries to run, Chief Gunderson is able to take him into custody and gently lectures his abhorrent behavior as he is being transported.  We then shift to Bismarck, North Dakota, where police finally catch a distraught Jerry in a hotel.  We close with Chief Gunderson getting into bed with her husband, congratulating Norm on getting his art work used for postage stamps.

Such an artistic achievement might seem trivial to people outside of places like Fargo, but any victory should be celebrated.  It is not a major part of the plot, but Norm’s God given talents are utilized to the best of his ability.  That is all God asks of us, to do what we can with what we have, and to do it for the betterment of society.  Art is one way of doing so, and beautiful pictures reveal much about the Creator’s plan.  It is in Chief Gunderson, though, that we see the apogee of maximizing strengths.  What I love about her is the gentle way she goes about police work.  What most have noted about the film, and this is a fair assessment, is that the Northern Midwestern, non-confrontational attitude is on display throughout.  Yet, because that is the default way of being for most of the characters, I wish to highlight Chief Gunderson’s goodness.  There is a sequence that does not fit entirely with the plot, but underscores her unflappable commitment to right behavior.  While in Minneapolis, she meets with a former high school friend named Mike Yanagita (Steve Park), who had heard of her involvement with investigating the Brainerd murders.  It is clear that Mike expects their encounter to become romantic, talking about his wife dying of cancer and then trying to sit on her side of the table.  She firmly, but politely, requests that he go back to his section of the booth.  The following morning while on the phone with a friend, she learns that he had never been married, and that the woman in question is still alive.  Instead of saying awful things about the creepy behavior, she only comments on what a shame it is to say such things.  To be sure, the film does not say explicitly that this is a Christian way of acting.  However, her gentleness is Christ-like, even if she does ultimately shoot and wound Gaear.

Chief Gunderson’s actions in Fargo are the only reason to watch what is otherwise a pretty vile movie.  Carl and Gaear behave as one would expect of hardened criminals.  The person who is arguably worse is Jerry.  In all, it is a pretty uncomfortable watch, even if you love Minnesotan accents.