# So I just saw Fargo... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 16, 2004, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508 "2004-07-16T23:39:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![xvxdarkknightxvx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/34f0e0/32.png) [@xvxdarkknightxvx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xvxdarkknightxvx)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/21 "2004-07-17T04:41:09Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > Okay. I wasn’t sure. > > My feelings… > > It’s an alright movie, but never really got what was so great about it. It had some good scenes, and I’m a steve Busciemi fan(and to this day, I think of him as being “funny looking”) but it’s nowhere near the top of my list of Coen Bros films. I actually felt \*Barton Fink \* was a more interesting movie, even if it was extremely slow. > > I know I’m going get it for that. I so know what you mean. I loved **Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou?** and had fun with **The Big Lebowski** , so I thought **Fargo** would be awesome after all the good things I’d heard about it. I guess it was a victim of hype. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/22 "2004-07-17T04:42:20Z")
Sure you is ;). Coming from South Jersey (ie, Toms River) originally, I know you Central Jerseyites pronounce dog as dawwg and coffee as cawwfee. That drawn out ‘aww’ is typical of those from Central Jersey. ---
**Author:** ![xvxdarkknightxvx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/34f0e0/32.png) [@xvxdarkknightxvx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xvxdarkknightxvx)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/23 "2004-07-17T04:52:35Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > Sure you is ;). Coming from South Jersey (ie, Toms River) originally, I know you Central Jerseyites pronounce dog as dawwg and coffee as cawwfee. That drawn out ‘aww’ is typical of those from Central Jersey. But that’s the northern Jerseyans! I swear it! 😛 [sub]From Tom’s River, huh? Well, since you made it out alive, I’ll assume you didn’t drink the water. 😉 [/sub] ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/24 "2004-07-17T04:59:40Z")
No, that’s Central Jersey through and through. North Jersey (or rather NorthEast Jersey) is much more of a Brooklyn-like accent or a ‘Joisey’ accent. And there ain’t nothing wrong with the water :p. It led to healthy boys such as our 1998 Little League World Series Champs (Nyah!). 😛 ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/25 "2004-07-17T06:53:49Z")
> [@Kaotic Newtral](#): > > Oh, and most of that movie was set in Minnesota. The word **soda** is a pretty good test of someone who grew up in that area. The ‘o’ will sound like the ‘o’ in boat. It’s quite drawn out. I get more crap saying the word ‘soda’ than any word in the dictionary. 🙂 > -K Soda? What’s this “soda” of which you speak? Ooooh, you mean pop! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/26 "2004-07-17T07:02:08Z")
If you found _Fargo_ annoying rather than amusing, then it would be impossible to explain to you what was great about the movie. You either get humor, or you don’t. ---
**Author:** ![xvxdarkknightxvx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/34f0e0/32.png) [@xvxdarkknightxvx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xvxdarkknightxvx)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/27 "2004-07-17T07:56:23Z")
> [@blowero](#): > > If you found _Fargo_ annoying rather than amusing, then it would be impossible to explain to you what was great about the movie. You either get humor, or you don’t. I figured he was trying for humor with the dialect, as in the scene where the cop talks to the two hookers. Again, is it that much different than someone not liking dirty jokes? So I don’t like annoying jokes, sue me. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![manx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@manx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manx)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/28 "2004-07-17T14:23:41Z")
I saw Fargo years ago, and the only thing I really remember about it is how much I adored the accent! I have no idea why it apealed as much as it did, but it’s some combination of charming/cute that I just fell for. Where is it that people speak this way? Minnesota you say? Hmmmm… ---
**Author:** ![Grimpen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/82dd89/32.png) [@Grimpen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grimpen)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/29 "2004-07-17T16:09:30Z")
As other posters have noted, both the accent and the choice of words are slightly exaggerated rural Minnesota dialect. Exaggerated, yes; but not qualitatively unlike conversations you might overhear in a local cafe. In fairness, I should say many Minnesotans also dislike the movie, for much that reason. We aren’t all that funny. We’re just us. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/30 "2004-07-17T17:00:38Z")
> [@Kaotic Newtral](#): > > Yep, that’s true! Also…you have to throw a few “eh’s” in just like the movie “The Great White North” with Bob and Doug McKenzie. (sp) [nitpick] It’s called “[The Adventures of Bob & Doug McKenzie: Strange Brew](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086373/)”, most commonly referred to as “Strange Brew”. And that is a very exaggerated central Northern Ontario accent. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/31 "2004-07-17T19:21:59Z")
> [@Mockingbird](#): > > You mean he wasn’t paying attention? > > Jerry had been pulling scams at the dealership so he’d have the money to keep his family to a standard of living he hoped his hateful father in law would approve of. > > The car company was catching him on one of his scams and he was trying to get money to cover it. He assumed, as I had, that this car scam thing was just another aspect of his plot he was doing to get the money he needed. It makes sense, though. ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/32 "2004-07-17T19:58:53Z")
Originally Posted by **interface2x** > [@](#): > > - > > Eh, I knew a guy who was absolutely furious when the movie ended because we never found out why Jerry Lundegaard needed the money. Absolutely furious. \* I was furious when the movie ended too. I wanted it to go on and on and on… Someone once said all movies should be directed by the Coen Brothers. ‘Fargo’ is their masterpiece, imho. Accents, use of background & light, dialogue and an awesome script. Actors to die for and directed by geniuses. Make way ‘Citizen Kane’. ‘Fargo’ has it all and ought to be the all time # One. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/33 "2004-07-17T19:59:22Z")
> [@xvxdarkknightxvx](#): > > Along with with, I thought he was also trying to get the money for that lot deal he had discovered. Remeber the one he had introduced to his father in-law? I think the parking lot deal was just an excuse/scam to borrow money from his father in law. He was just deep in debt and desperately needed cash. As for the accent, I watched it with a friend from Minneapolis and she thought it was hilarious in the “exaggerated but so true!” sense. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/34 "2004-07-17T20:08:16Z")
> [@xvxdarkknightxvx](#): > > I figured he was trying for humor with the dialect, as in the scene where the cop talks to the two hookers. Again, is it that much different than someone not liking dirty jokes? So I don’t like annoying jokes, sue me. 😃 I guess you _really_ hated _The Full Monty_, then. And what was with that stupid movie called _Gone With the Wind_? Everybody talked that funny talk. Did they do that on purpose? Maybe all actors should just speak in a monotone. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![DaddyTimesTwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@DaddyTimesTwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaddyTimesTwo)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/35 "2004-07-17T20:30:22Z")
> [@BlackKnight](#): > > Soda? What’s this “soda” of which you speak? > > Ooooh, you mean pop! 😉 What kind of coke would you like? Root beer, cream soda, sprite, we got 'em all. I thought _Fargo_ was fabulous. And the accents were part of the fun, along with the axes, the hookers, the wood-chippers and the all around murderous mayhem. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/36 "2004-07-17T20:52:13Z")
I think _Fargo_ is the Coen Brothers’ best film. I’m not a worshipful fan–they can be very uneven–but I generall try to see what they’ve come up with each new film. My favorite moment: Marge has arrested the Swede and is driving him back to Brainerd. She’s driving through an absolute horizontal whiteout of a blizzard, the kind of weather most people would say is the worst kind the northern states have to offer. To demonstrate for us how totally bred-in-the-bone a sunny-side-up optimist she is, she says something like–_"I don’t understand it–_ [She enumerates the crimes committed.] _–and all for a little bit of money._ [Then she looks up into the white sky–no doubt struggling mightily to keep the car from blowing off the icy road–and says] \*And it’s a beautiful day!" \* That was done so perfectly. She didn’t come off as deluded, or fake, or anything like that; we understood perfectly that she meant it, and that every day is a beautiful day for people like Marge, who carry their beautiful day around with them. One of the most brilliant moments in all of film. ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/37 "2004-07-17T21:02:37Z")
Originally posted by **lissener** > [@](#): > > _That was done so perfectly. She didn’t come off as deluded, or fake, or anything like that; we understood perfectly that she meant it, and that every day is a beautiful day for people like Marge, who carry their beautiful day around with them. One of the most brilliant moments in all of film._ Yes! And at the very end where Marge and hubby are in bed, talking and Marge is so proud of her husband for having his 3[?] cents stamp published - while she had just captured a dangerous criminal. She _means_ it. I love Marge Gunderson. I wish Ethan and Joel would make a trilogy of her. ---
**Author:** ![xvxdarkknightxvx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/34f0e0/32.png) [@xvxdarkknightxvx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xvxdarkknightxvx)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/38 "2004-07-18T00:23:10Z")
> [@blowero](#): > > I guess you _really_ hated _The Full Monty_, then. And what was with that stupid movie called _Gone With the Wind_? Everybody talked that funny talk. Did they do that on purpose? > > Maybe all actors should just speak in a monotone. :rolleyes: Never seen **The Fully Monty** , and I haven’t seen **Gone With the Wind** for a while, but I do remember that Prissy had the most annoying voice I’d ever heard. You sound a bit offended. Please read the OP again. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/39 "2004-07-18T00:30:36Z")
I had never heard the accent for real until I was stuck on a Northworst Airlines plan in Minneapolis in a row with a very nice local couple - who sounded exactly like Marge. People are funny about accents. When I was living in Cajun country there was a series of ads on the radio staring Clarence Cauchin, the Easter Pig, who spoke in a great Cajun accent. One of the women who worked for my wife objected to he ad for sounding funny - in exactly the same accent. I’m from New York, where we don’t have an accent. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/40 "2004-07-18T00:46:46Z")
One of the best things about _Fargo_ however, was that it was a true story! They ‘dramatized’ it, but they didn’t have to make up the plot. It was in the papers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508.md?page=3)