Fargo (1996)

Every criminal in Fargo is terrible at crime, and the whole movie is watching them find that out one frozen mistake at a time. William H. Macy’s Jerry lies so badly you can practically see him sweating through the parka. Steve Buscemi never stops complaining, and Peter Stormare stares at a fuzzy TV like it owes him money. Then Frances McDormand shows up as Marge, polite, pregnant and sharper than everybody, and she doesn’t even arrive until the movie is well underway, which is my biggest gripe. There’s also a detour with an old classmate that goes nowhere on purpose and still feels like a speed bump. The violence comes fast and blunt, which is the point, but it lands hard in a movie this funny. It made $60.6 million worldwide on a reported $7 million budget. A 9.2 because it’s the funniest movie about awful people and the kindest one about a good person. $1,357 says you catch yourself saying ’oh yah’ in a Minnesota accent before the weekend.

What works: Frances McDormand’s Marge, Macy’s sweaty panic, and a dry, frozen sense of humor that makes the dark stuff even darker.

What doesn’t: Marge arrives late, and the reunion with her old classmate Mike Yanagita stalls the investigation for a scene that plays like a detour.

Who it’s for: Fans of crime stories where nobody is a genius, and anyone who has ever been way too polite in a tense situation.