Fargo

In the extensive and esteemed filmography of the Coen brothers, two titles have achieved cult status. Alongside The Big Lebowski, there is also Fargo. Perhaps it is somewhat mistakenly because I believe that film fans have a tendency to interpret this Coen title in a Tarantinoesque way. However, in the case of their crime cycle, which includes along with Fargo their debut Blood Simple, The Man Who Wasn't There, and No Country for Old Men, it is more about the psychological dramas of people in exceptional situations for the Coens, while Tarantino is more about entertainment and a cool style. The Fargo TV series, although produced by the Coens, really follows in Tarantino's footsteps. They only take the Coen style in the title, which promises a decent commercial response. In Tarantino's films, the screenwriter's goal is for his characters to be appropriately cool and deliver sexy lines in every situation, while the Coens strive for believability, even when confronted with absurdity and unpredictable randomness. While I believe in the Coens' antiheroes and bloody dramas, here we are in the world of fiction from the very beginning. But I must say that it is truly enjoyable fiction. In the ranking of world film villains, Lorne Malvo stands very high, I dare say in the top ten. Billy Bob Thornton truly played this character brilliantly and gave him a twisted charisma that many Bond villains must envy. After all, he is probably the only villain who managed to surpass the legendary performance of the Terminator, who shot up a police station with 18 officers in the first film. Malvo, in his reduction of organized crime in Fargo, is significantly more powerful and it's not easy for anyone to surpass his 22 scalps while clearing out a building. Malvo is an intelligent and experienced adversary, but unfortunately, he doesn't have a worthy opponent among the positive characters. This series stands and falls with Billy Bob Thornton and Martin Freeman. Wherever they appear, the series excels, but when others take the stage, it quickly loses its pace. While, for example, Bates Motel has excellently developed supporting characters, where it is always possible for them to take on a leading role in the continuation, here the other characters are more like followers and figurines, although in the case of Bob Odenkirk, they are quite amusing figurines. Overall impression: 85%. (18/05/2016)

Fargo, or Bloody Tales from the American Underworld, comes in series form for the second time, and this time after some hesitation, I am giving it five stars. Essentially for two reasons. The first season was carried by two characters and two actors. Billy Bob Thornton in particular basically stole the series for himself. Lorne Malvo, a neglected little man with sharp eyes and a virtuoso ability to unsettle his surroundings with his speech full of implied dark threats, is a villain you can't forget. The second season is much more balanced. It doesn't rely on stars, although Kirsten Dunst definitely belongs to the famous names of the American acting scene. However, there are several dozen attractive characters here capable of capturing the viewer's attention, and they should have a chance for a potential spin-off to be built around them. That is to say that they would if the malicious screenwriter didn't let them be massacred in a grandiose style. The rivalry between two criminal gangs sometimes resembles a minor civil war and I get the feeling that certain military operations in the last century have cost Americans fewer lives. The underling Hanzee, who decides to stop being obedient and wants to play his own significant game, the philosophical gangster Mike Milligan, who would be better suited for academia, the silent twin brother killers, the diligent tough cop or sheriff who remembers a lot and predicts a lot - they all function perfectly. The second reason for the fifth star is the married couple who act as a catalyst for everything that happens. Both the butcher Ed, who longs for his own butchery, and the hairdresser Peggy, who is a funny caricature of American feminism, are so obsessed with their own idea of happiness that they don't notice the immense trouble they are getting themselves into and that they are also dragging their surroundings in with them. This season contains more comedic elements than the first and at the same time represents thoroughly modern and clever filmmaking, confirming the well-known fact that interesting things happen on the television screen nowadays. The screenwriter has a tendency to resolve the plot in a deus ex machina style and not everyone can digest the flying saucers, but I simply consider them part of the game with the viewer, which you can either embrace and have a good time with or not. What disappoints me a little is the insufficient connection between the two seasons, which could have been much greater - the bag filled with millions from the first season was practically asking for it. Nevertheless, for me, it was a great bit of satisfaction, and if another season is made, I want to see it. Overall impression: 90%. (06/06/2016)

Each of the previously aired seasons of Fargo is different and unique. But they are all interesting and above all incredibly entertaining. With all due respect to the Coen brothers, whose work served as a springboard, the value of any of the seasons is higher than that of the original film. It is much more difficult to maintain the quality of the script and story, the level of dialogue, and the chemistry between characters in ten episodes lasting almost an hour each than in one feature film. They are simply back. Predators and their victims, hired killers, mercenaries, fraudsters, big players and their pawns, ambitious desperados, and unassuming figures capable of surprising. The third season of Fargo didn't succeed in surpassing the excellent second season, but it is right behind it by a small margin and clearly surpasses the first season. The first season had only two prominent figures, while the third season has seven of them. As always, Fargo relies on well-written negative characters, whereas the positive characters play the role of static observers and commentators of events. All of the Fargo seasons share a similar type of story, but the way the characters are handled is different from the second season, where mistakes and misunderstandings move the plot, with key catalysts being villains on all sides. Here, the character types partially follow the first season with one significant difference. Malvo was a ghostly cool killer as if out of a comic book, while Mr. V. M. Varga is a monster that came from the real world. Malvo belongs to the realm of myths, Varga is corrupt, leaving behind tunneled funds, failing banks, and billions of losses, or even dead white horses. He is a major scammer, manipulator, and a person who doesn't dirty his hands with blood. He kills with a look or a slight gesture. He has a different arsenal of weapons, and the dirtiest work is done by others. By the way, I thought that Billy Bob Thornton's performance couldn't be surpassed, but David Thewlis, in my opinion, outdid him. No, he's not an attractive character, but in a way, he is fascinating. Thewlis understood the potential in that monster and played with his character, knowing that an actor encounters something so fulfilling only a few times in their life. The character played by M. E. Winstead may have had significantly more self-confidence than the timid insurance salesman from the first season, but she learns just as quickly and soon becomes a dangerous opponent. Ewan McGregor created a demanding dual role of brothers divided by a sense of injustice and envy. Both of them are physically and temperamentally different but equally entertaining and tragic in their inability to anticipate where things are heading and to step aside in time. In today's television pop culture, Fargo represents undeniable quality, and I hope this wasn't the last encounter with the anti-heroes of the American underworld in the darkly grotesque world of Fargo. Overall impression: 90%. (05/09/2017)

When the TV series Fargo was first mentioned, I saw it as a producer's attempt to parasite on the famous Coen Brothers film. My skepticism quickly disappeared, and with each new episode, I succumbed more and more to the world of Fargo, full of dark characters walking twisted paths soaked with human pain and blood, pursuing their idea of happiness and ultimately reaping what they did not expect. The success of Fargo relied on two factors. First, the quality scripts that presented all the improbable twists with ease and naturalness provided fresh ideas, portrayed interesting settings and communities, and most importantly, told thrilling and entertaining stories about people from the underworld. The second factor was the remarkable, more or less deranged, politically incorrect characters who had no problem crossing legal and ethical boundaries defined by prevailing morality. These characters possessed an incredible amount of charisma and engaged in acts that pushed them to the brink of urban legends and horrifying tales shared by police veterans with rookies. The beginning of the fourth season shows no signs of decline and efficiently depicts the power shifts between ethnically defined criminal clans. The creation of credit cards is portrayed with typical Fargo irony. However, as the minutes go by, the script deficiencies increase - a typical example being the hastily built relationship between the psychopathic sister and the new boss of the Italian clan. The TV series' characters mostly lack the necessary development and remain underutilized. Due to the screenwriters' incompetence, the potential of others is wasted. The African-American gang lacks more distinct individuality, and Chris Rock is the casting mistake of the year. Jessie Buckley and Gomorrah star Salvatore Esposito play their characters as outright caricatures, thereby detracting from the necessary tension of the show. Previous seasons of Fargo did use humor, but its dark antiheroes had to be taken seriously. We could continue with the criticism, but despite its numerous shortcomings, the fourth season of Fargo still deserves three stars - although there is a clear drop in quality compared to previous seasons. Overall impression: 55%. (18/08/2021)