I just love McDormand's face when she says that line - she takes a beat, her facial expression doesn't change, and then it comes out of her mouth like she's ordering a hamburger. Brilliant.

This is one of my all time favorite movies. I saw it the first day it opened in New York City, and I loved it. I've seen it again since. What strikes me during repeated viewings is the spareness of it. Fargo moves very quickly and there isn't anything peripheral in it, no fillers. It's just a great movie and a great story with great characterizations. Wow, when I put it that way, it sounds like anyone could do it. Would that were true.

There's no point in going through the story. I'll just write that Frances McDormand is sensational, as is everyone in the film - she and William H. Macy are standouts. You can really feel his desperation.

There are so many great scenes - when Marge thinks she's going to barf, the scene with Macy referenced above, her little lecture to the criminals, the stamp discussion. And who can forget her old friend from high school? That scene is priceless! I also love the endless expanse of snow when the search for the money begins.

This film was a real high point for me. It is a true masterpiece done by two of our most imaginative filmmakers and starring one of our finest actresses. What can I say, except I'm heading out to the wood chipper.

Fargo (1996) is a movie I recently watched again on Amazon Prime. The storyline follows a group of kidnappers executing a paid job for a scammer of sorts. As some eccentrically behaved local detectives start investigating a recent murder conducted by the previously referenced kidnappers, the entire kidnapping may get blown up. This move is directed by the amazing Coen Brothers (Raising Arizona) and stars William H. Macy (Shameless), Steve Buscemi (Reservoir Dogs), Kristin Rudrüd (Drop Dead Gorgeous), Frances McDormand (Nomadland) and John Carroll Lynch (Zodiac). The storyline for this is so interesting and contains intricate characters, sub plots and primary plot. There's so much depth in every aspect of this movie you get fascinated by every facet, and both the good and bad guys. Loved how the entire story unfolds and every aspect of this movie is satisfying. I'd score this a 10/10 and is an American all time masterpiece.

This movie opens with the words "This is a true story. The events depicted in this film took place in Minnesota in 1987. At the request of the survivors, the names have been changed. Out of respect for the dead, the rest has been told exactly as it occurred." I never challenged these words, but apparently no such incidents as depicted in this film ever occurred. The movie plays out quite believably - A middle-class car salesman gets in over his head financially by embezzling from his employer, thinking that the business deals he is making with the money will allow him to replace the stolen goods before he is detected. When his schemes don't pan out he must find a way to replace the money. The salesman's father-in-law - and employer - is wealthy but distant and indifferent towards him, so he hatches a plan to fake his wife's kidnapping with the help of two felons he doesn't know at all who are "vouched for" by an ex-con mechanic that works at the same dealership he works for. He figures his father-in-law will pay the ransom, he'll split it with the felons, and his problems will be solved. This is not to be the case. It turns out that these felons are more violent and uncontrollable than the salesman counted on, and they leave quite a body count in their wake. Also, in another clever twist, what becomes of the ransom money over which so many greedy people in the film have fought and died is quite ironic to say the least. Although I wouldn't exactly say we read this story in the paper everyday, we all have read something similar - someone who has lived an ordinary life for several decades suddenly gets tempted into some criminal activity that quickly escalates out of control.

The person who unravels the mystery of the crimes is the most unstereotypical of police officers - Marge Gunderson. She is the extremely pregnant chief of police in the small town where the first murders occur, and her combination of brains and folksy charm masterfully handle witnesses and trace the crime back to the car salesman and his dealership.

I've never been to Minnesota, but if the Coens' rendition of that state and its people was as spot-on as their parody of the American southwest in "Raising Arizona", then they have really done their research. I highly recommend it.