Film Student Watches FARGO (1996) for the Very FIRST TIME! (Movie Reacion) 

I can’t believe we’ve finally talked you into watching this. Hopefully you watch the series after this.

Yeah that's a north Dakota/Minnesota accent. Pretty accurate too.

THE MOTHERFUCKING FUCKING BOSS!! Bless you for getting into this absolute classic & maaaaannn, I can’t wait for you to get into the show after this, each season is a different tale & you’ll definitely enjoy it!

Elie, when Fargo was lobbying to get Oscar nominations, they sent out packets with little gifts, as everyone does in Hollywood. Their gift was a snowglobe, with an upside down car lying on the snow, and a body in a pool of blood against the snowy surface.

You technically shouldn't be laughing at many moments of this movie. But in a similar vein to TV's The Sopranos (which you're definitely familiar with), one of this movie's many highlights is the dark comedy within it. Edit also since I mentioned Sopranos sort of randomly I'm still sticking with it for this comparison too.. this is one of the most quotable movies of all time at least with my friend group lol. We don't even live any near Brainard for it to be relatable, I guess we all just love throwing on a North Dakota accent and saying something so dull it's absurdly funny

You gave a very well thought out response to this film. Your insight and intuition on that character lying to Marge was impressive. Did you already find out this was NOT based on a True Story?

Hope you give the TV show a chance. The first two seasons are excellent.

I always think it’s strange that this movie has Tim Burton’s usual art director/production designer, because this film looks so realistic and like the opposite of Tim Burton, but you’re right, there’s lots of subtle choices being made with the interiors.

Fargo, North Dakota is right on the western border of Minnesota while Brainerd, Minnesota is more than half way through the state and quite a distance away. FUN FACT: The Coen brothers are originally from the eastern part of Minnesota, and, ironically, the year this was filmed had one of the lowest amounts of snowfall, so they had to ship in lots of snow for filming.

Fargo was quite successful at the box office in its original run. Bolstered by strong reviews, word of mouth, an amusingly dark ad campaign, and probably the fact that the Coen Brothers were already developing a loyal following. As others have mentioned: kudos for making the Mike Yanagita/Jerry Lundergard connection. I didn’t until I watched a few other reactions and read the comments! 😊

Great reaction. This is a CLASSIC.. you need to do the series also.

As another commenter noted, this is the first person EVER to understand how the lunch with Mike played into Marge’s insights on Jerry. It’s funny how the brain works. I often miss things like that in movies, but I immediately read Elie’s body language and realized he was suspicious of Mike before he said anything about it. Also, this movie blew him away, he just hasn’t realized it yet. That’s how this movie works IME.

Let’s gooo. The movie and series are iconic. Can’t wait.

Love that you watched it now, you are as interesting as the film. Big up yourself 😇

Fargo is great, but my absolute favorite Coen Bros movies are Blood Simple, Miller's Crossing, and Barton Fink.

You wondered if BB was influenced at all by Fargo - it's quite explicit with its influence if you look hard enough. Even The Sopranos has nods to the film. BB is influenced by The Sopranos, and in turn, the Fargo TV series tips its cap many times to The Sopranos too. "Time is a flat circle." Vince Gilligan speaks highly of The Coens, stating that Fargo and No Country For Old Men had influenced BB the most, along with Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. The pacing, the framing of shots. There is of course the gorgeous cinematography of Roger Deakins. The scenes set in New Hampshire - where Walt is in hiding - are straight out of Fargo. Speaking of which, in Fargo the criminals are in hiding in a cabin, snowed in and going crazy, just like Walt in NH. The title for the BB S1 finale is "A No-Rough-Stuff-Type Deal", which is how Jerry said he wanted the job to go down. Jerry's wife flees criminals, trips and concusses herself, just like Ted did. Walt hides his cash under the house and later buries it. In No Country, the cash is hidden under the house, in Fargo it's buried. Jerry's an ordinary guy with a wife and teenage son, who gets involved in criminal activity that spirals out of control, just like Walt. Grimsrud uses an axe on Carl, who's nursing a gunshot wound, just like the Cousin was about to do with Hank, who had also been shot. Hell, Jesse Plemons (Todd) is a main character in Fargo S2. I won't list any more as you may not have seen the other Coen films, which you should certainly check out, as many have said. You'd benefit watching their filmography before starting the series I think, because each season is choked with connections / easter eggs to their films. YAAAH.

In my experience... ive never heard anyone utter a bad word about this movie. And theres a several season TV spinnoff that you should definitely see that ties into the story here. Also... i guarantee youll revisit it at some point and the weird stuff youre unsure about will be the parts you love most. That the beauty of the Coen bros.

I just thought about how hard it would be to get that snow shoveling conversation exactly right. Very complicated with random interruptions

Cinematographer was the great Roger Deakins, considered by many to be one of the best to ever do it. This is early in his film career. He did many Coen brothers movies and many Denis Villeneuve films as well.

I haven't watched Nomadland or Three Billboards, but I'm really glad Frances won the Oscar for this weird little excellent movie. Marge is such an iconic character. Great reaction as always

Marge got him in the FLESHY PART OF THE THIGH.. lol. @Bobby

Hey Elie, it's great to see you watch something I have seen. You nailed the meaning if the interaction with Mike. I've always loved this film. Every word out of Jerry's mouth is a lie and Buscemi is superb. McDormand deserved her Oscar win. Top 20 of all time for me.

North by Northwest, right before the crop duster scene. I love how Grant looks across the road expectantly at the stranger, and approaches him unsure. I've been in a similar situation, minus the biplane with a machine gun. You also have the aerial scene from the skyscraper as he flees (miniature with incredible contrast), which is not dissimilar to the parking lot shot in this. Well pointed out. There's an unforgiving vastness about it all.

Minnesota / Midwestern US accents are due to the Swedish / Norweigan and German settlers to that area. The Chicago accent is closely related (look up the SNL "Da Bears" skits for more on that). Boston accents is where you hear the most Irish influence.

It's in Minnesota, with a somewhat exaggerated Minnesota/Wisconsin sound. The 'Twin Cities' are Minneapolis-St. Paul. The 'Yah' is a Scandinavian (or German) 'Ja'. Lots of Northern European settlers were drawn into to that landscape. Hence 'Lundegaard', 'Gustafson', and so on.

You might not like the way they talk but they nailed the accent at the time in that region 100%

Sweet reaction to one of my most favorite films. Extremely quotable, along with "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" I highly recommend the Coens' first film, "Blood Simple," also starring Frances McDormand. Great neo-noir thriller.

I am very impressed that you figured out the role of Mike in the plot development. It puzzles a great many viewers and reviewers (as it did me).

This was pretty well received at the time. Francis won best supporting actress.

I moved to Wisconsin, which is pretty close to Minnesota.... the people from there have a strong accent. It is definitely some who sound like the people in the movie. It doesn't sound that way to the people who were raised there, only it is very obvious to the outsiders. Yaahh!

The accent is an old school Minnesota accent only very slightly exaggerated. You here it less these days as Minnesota has become home to many refugees. "Yeah", "Oh yeah", "jeez" and "you betcha" are very typical Minnesotan. The opening scene is in Fargo, North Dakota. The rest takes place in Minnesota. The "twin cities" are Minneapolis and St. Paul. 2 cities separated by a river.

Almost all Cohen brother movies deserve at least a second viewing to full appreciate them. Especially for movies like The Big Lebowski or A Serious Man. If you haven't seen it yet, you should watch Miller's Crossing next.

The U.S. has a lot of regional accents that aren’t shown in a lot of films. And actors that do them often do them poorly. The NewEngland accent is the most common in films. But you’re getting a taste of different regional accents here watching THE WIRE and FARGO.

Norm was also Twisty The Clown in American Horror Story Freak Show. Scariest clown ever.

Elie now you gotta watch the series my man, fantastic show

I've watched a lot of reactions to Fargo. You're the only one who saw that Mike Yanagita was lying, and predicted what effect it would have on Marge. I didn't expect it the first time I saw it. There are people who don't understand why that scene was in the movie at all. Very perceptive! The accents aren't Irish. They're a Scandinavian-American. Historically, the area has had a lot of immigrants from Norway and Sweden, and it affected the way they talk there. I agree that Frances McDormand was great in the movie. So was William H. Macy. He did such a good job of creating a weaselly, stupid, cowardly fool.

FYI, the movie isn't based on a true story. They admitted later they added that so they could get away with some implausible plot points.

Many question what the point of that scene is, and I had the same thought. I think it just reinforces how well Marge can read a person when they're lying. Norm has no chance of lying to her, and why would he? She's a keeper.

Yah, it's real good then. This movie is one of the best comedies of all time. You can drive from the eastern point of the upper peninsula of Michigan, through northern Wisconsin (shout out to Ladysmith), Minnesota and into North Dakota, and you'll hear variations of that accent. Yah, yoo betcha. It's a snow-blown, white-out black comedy of the first order.

One of my favorites

It was nominated for 7 Oscars and won 2. Sorry man that was kind of abrupt, just got past the part where you were wondering how well received it was. I second the Blood Simple nominations, their first movie an d what an introduction it is, I have the soundtrack in my playlist. Solid reaction by the way. Also has anyone recommended Black Sails or The Expanse yet? I think you'd like them.

You made many great observations. I like how the statue of Paul Bunyan has an axe and psychotic stare and at the end one of the psychotic killer kills his partner with an axe. I also picked up on how the psychic killer kills the motorist running away where as the same type of action Margie shoots him in the leg instead of killing him. Btw you should watch No Country for Old Men has a similar theme about money even uses the same brief case and cash but that movie as a completely different mood.

Check out.. Raising Arizona...

I think you will revisit it, and appreciate it more in time.

I adore these accents as well.

Filmed in a record warm winter so they had to spend extra time and money coming up with fake snow

If you like the cinematography in the movie you'll loooove watching the series...

The shows really good bro

P.S. As far as the TV show goes, if you Google reviews (dont read because of spoilers please) Fargo gets a 4.5 out of 5.0. Compare Dexter 4.8, Ozark 4.6, The Wire 4.8, BB 4.8, G.O.T. 4.7 and BCS 4.9. This should give you a little bit of a measure of how good these TV shows (you havent seen yet are. I honestly believe the Fargo TV series is good enough to be compared to the best TV shows.

I’m confused on how you think the Minnesota/Dakotas accent sounds like an Irish accent

I really enjoyed 3 Billboards, too. Still need to see her film Nomadland. I think I'd love it but just haven't gotten around to it. Anybody here see it?

Didn’t see this in the comments: Not actually a true story.

Elie have you seen No Country For Old Men by the Coen brothers? If not definitely should react to it. It’s another Coen brothers masterpiece.

Oh man not Fargo! It’s like watching a train wreck imo. Lol

paul bunyun is the states statue north dakoda is the accent.........a little American history....this suppose to be a true story

Yaaa

Yeah, you eat a lot when you're pregnant. You need the extra calories, plus the fluctuating hormones trigger your appetite, too. 😉 They call it "eating for two" for a reason.

There are NO irish accents on this movie.😂😂😂 The also discussed genes death and what happened. I guess you missed it.

Not really a true story. Those darn Coen’s. 😂😂

The Wire is the shiiiiit. Bunk and McNulty, fuck.

That accent . . . my God. You're not in Jersey anymore.

This movie was a massive success… $53M+ in profits from the box office alone… it was very well received by audiences …and DEF worth multiple views… it gets better and better.

Not really a true story or even based on one - the first joke of the movie is that.

All due respect, can we save the analysis till after the film has ended? All due respect😉