Fargo: When “Yah Sure” Turns into “Yah Murder”

In this episode of the Entertain This! Podcast, we review the 1996 Coen Brothers film Fargo, where snowy politeness occasionally masks rather unremarkable miscalculations, including one notably memorable woodchipper incident. We examine the film’s competent blend of crime, dark humor, and Midwestern restraint, noting Frances McDormand’s steady portrayal of Marge Gunderson alongside William H. Macy’s depiction of hapless desperation.

While the Coens’ dialect-driven wit and visual irony lend a measure of amusement to this tale of ambition gone somewhat sideways, the narrative ultimately registers as solid yet unexceptional. Spoiler filled and measured in tone, tune in for our balanced assessment of why Fargo qualifies as a respectable, if not indispensable, example of independent filmmaking. 

New episodes are released on a regular schedule; subscribe today.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

You betcha.

SPEAKER_04 0:25

Oh, geez, well, if it ain't entertain this, don't you know? We're doing a podcast. I I can't do it anymore.

SPEAKER_02 0:32

God, the accident just gets on my nerves.

SPEAKER_04 0:34

It does. It does, but it's kind of funny. Anyway, what we're going to say this is a podcast about movies, TV shows, and video games. My name is Tom.

SPEAKER_00 0:42

With me, I have Mitch and Maggie!

SPEAKER_04 0:47

My name is Hayden. And on this episode, we're doing a review of the 1996 film Fargo.

SPEAKER_02 0:56

Yay.

SPEAKER_04 0:57

Yeah. I don't know why I'm going, yay, it was my suggestion.

SPEAKER_02 1:02

Yeah, it was your suggestion.

SPEAKER_04 1:04

I threw out several films.

SPEAKER_02 1:05

And I'd only seen bits and pieces of this, and then the other one you had mentioned as well, but I I didn't like it any better when I sat down and watched the whole thing.

SPEAKER_04 1:14

We need to do like this just 90s Steve Buscemi movies.

SPEAKER_02 1:18

He's probably like the best character in the whole movie. At least to me. He was the most entertaining to watch.

SPEAKER_04 1:24

Yes. He was. But before we get into Fargo or Fargo Social Media.

SPEAKER_02 1:30

Hey. I don't have that one anymore.

unknown 1:35

Mitch.

SPEAKER_02 1:35

Well, you can go to entertain this underscore on X, Instagram, and TikTok, or you on YouTube and go to entertain this 59.

SPEAKER_04 1:43

Those places. Yeah. Those things. Check us out. You're not going to, but you know, we say it. You will. You can comment. You can like something.

SPEAKER_02 1:50

Or you know, you can always share this with like friends and family. Give us five stars or subscribe and follow on all the uh yeah, like uh Spotify.

SPEAKER_04 1:59

I mean Hayden's been writing hashtag entertain this in men's rooms all over all over Georgia.

SPEAKER_02 2:03

Just leave his phone number for a good time. Listen to this. Be here.

SPEAKER_03 2:07

Listen at 2 15 a.m. For manly love. For a manly podcast.

SPEAKER_02 2:15

We should start doing that. For a manly podcast. Just listen here. Just write it everywhere. All those like gas room gas station bathroom stalls. Yeah. Let's start doing that.

SPEAKER_04 2:24

And then they'll be like, who does a show? Oh, these guys. You the ones who've been defacing property?

SPEAKER_02 2:28

Okay, it was Hayden. It was Hayden's idea.

SPEAKER_04 2:31

Well, no, we can't let him write it. No one can read his handwriting, but true.

SPEAKER_02 2:35

But they'll never guess who it is.

SPEAKER_04 2:37

No, because it's like whoever wrote this clearly English is not their first or second language.

SPEAKER_02 2:42

Cyan death pork.

SPEAKER_04 2:45

It's like, what is that? Cyan death pork? Cyberpunk. Not even close. Don't you know?

SPEAKER_02 2:53

It was like ebonics hieroglyphics.

SPEAKER_04 2:58

And made-up languages. And orc. Yeah. Anyway. Yeah, yeah. Fargo, the 1996 black comedy crime film, written, directed, produced, and edited by Joel and Ethan Cohen, who you might know as the Cohen Brothers, starring Francis McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, Harv Presnell, and Peter Stormer, the Russian guy who's in everything. I don't even think he's Russian.

SPEAKER_02 3:27

Probably not.

SPEAKER_04 3:28

I think they just get him to play that character.

SPEAKER_02 3:30

He does a good accent for it though, because he was like he was the Russian in Armageddon. He's also the Russian guy in John Wick movies.

SPEAKER_04 3:36

And John Wick 2.

unknown 3:37

The Bobby Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 3:38

He's the German guy in The Lost World who gets eaten by all the little cons.

SPEAKER_02 3:43

Oh, yeah. I didn't think about that, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 3:45

Uh I think what he plays Satan in Constantine. He's all over. You'll see him. You know who you know who we're talking about. McDorman plays police chief Marge Gunderson. Marge. Marge. Yes, it's Marge. Who investigates after a car salesman, Jerry Lundegaard, played by William H. Macy, hires two dim-witted criminals to kidnap his wife to extort a ransom from her wealthy father.

SPEAKER_02 4:12

William H. Macy plays Jerry and he reminds me of Jerry from Rick and Morty.

SPEAKER_04 4:18

Yes. Like it was modeled. Yeah. And a little backstory. William H. Macy wasn't even their pick to play Jerry.

SPEAKER_02 4:25

Who are they going to choose?

SPEAKER_04 4:27

They hadn't picked somebody. Like William H. Macy read for another part, and then he re heard about the Jerry part, and he's like, no, I need to do this guy. Like he just knew like I'm that one. He's like, I can play that guy. And like he like showed up at like the Cohen brothers' like house or something. And I was like, you know, like you're insulting me by looking for another actor. Like, I'm the dude you need. Like, I'm that guy. Like, you know, it's like you don't make a mistake and hire somebody else. But apparently, a lot of other people read for this movie.

SPEAKER_02 4:56

I don't before we get too far. I'll just say I liked the plot and the actors weren't bad. I just didn't like the movie. I know that doesn't make sense, but I don't know. I got bored and thought it was kind of dumb at times, but it it drags at some points. Like I said, the the actors did great in their roles, and I understand the plot. I just, I don't know, the way the way it all felt together, it just was boring to me.

SPEAKER_04 5:21

In 1987, Jerry Lundegaard is the executive sales manager of a Minneapolis car dealership owned by his father-in-law, Wade Gustafsson. Desperate for money, he plans to have his wife Jean kidnapped. On the recommendation of dealership mechanic and parolee Shep Proudfoot, Jerry meets with Gare Grimsrudd and Carl Show Walter at a bar in Fargo, North Dakota. It's G-A-E-A-R. Yeah. Yeah. That's not a name, it's a sound effect. And Carl agree to kidnap Gene in exchange for a new Oldsmobile Cutlass Sierra and half of the$80,000 ransom Jerry intends to extort from Wade.

SPEAKER_02 6:05

So first question I have was this based on a true story?

SPEAKER_04 6:08

No.

SPEAKER_02 6:09

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 6:10

So the title card shows like, you know, this is based on a true event, like the names have been changed.

SPEAKER_02 6:15

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 6:16

To like protect the identities of like the victims and like the innocent. Like, you know, like a law and order kind of thing. It's not based on anything. Okay. I thought it was based on this or this one, like something that happened in like in uh North Dakota or something that happened in Minnesota or like Wisconsin. There was like the compressors just keep getting asked about it, and then they're just like, no, it's not, it's not based on anything. Like they just put that because it's like, now you think this is real.

SPEAKER_02 6:39

Right. I'm pretty sure I would have heard about this if it actually was based on a true story.

SPEAKER_04 6:44

It's pretty funny, like artistic license to do it. Like just like this is based on a true story. And then it's like, is it though? Like you're just watching it, she's like, huh.

SPEAKER_02 6:51

I mean, I'm sure somebody has paid somebody to kidnap their wife. I'm sure that's happened.

SPEAKER_04 6:56

Because there's like two real life incidents. There's one where like a I think they got they I don't even think they managed to kidnap her.

SPEAKER_02 7:03

Well, I know there's one where a wife paid some people to kill her husband.

SPEAKER_04 7:06

Yeah, and then there's the dude that killed his wife by putting her through a wood chipper.

SPEAKER_02 7:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 7:10

I think that was in like Connecticut, though, as I recall. Because he shows up and he just looks like a dork. William H. Like you, I believe he's that guy.

SPEAKER_02 7:20

Yeah, he's not the guy that's gonna get his hands too late anyway.

SPEAKER_04 7:24

Shep told me nine. He's like, no, it was eight.

SPEAKER_02 7:28

He's like, he's like, ah, he must have just got miscommunicated. The second thing I wrote down straight from the beginning is Bashemi plays a great sleeve ball in everything he said. He looks like a sleeve.

SPEAKER_04 7:39

And it's so funny because he's like, he was a he used to be a New York City firefighter. And it's just like but he looked like I every time they describe him in the movies, and like a weird guy. It's like weird how it's like, just weird. Like he's just got it's just weird. Like it's like, and if you see Steve Steve Bishemi, you're just like, yeah, I get it. I understand now your description.

SPEAKER_02 7:59

But but I like how it's like a mechanic at Jerry's shop knows these like trained kidnappers and killers. They're not trained, they're idiots. Well, the one of them, he knows what he's doing.

SPEAKER_04 8:08

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:09

Yeah, yeah. He knows what he's doing. He's he's a bad guy, but he knows what he's doing.

SPEAKER_04 8:13

Yeah, he kills five people in this movie.

SPEAKER_02 8:17

And the whole time I think he kills everybody in this movie.

SPEAKER_04 8:19

Well, yeah, but shimmy. No, except for no, Stevie Shemmy kills one person.

SPEAKER_02 8:22

Well, Bashemmy, he's like, you know, don't, don't, I don't know if we should do this. You know, I got this covered. You know, he's just trying to like smooth everything out because he doesn't shut up. And then uh Peter Stormair's guy just like kills everyone I come across.

SPEAKER_04 8:34

So they agree to pay him, and then we get like the business meeting where believing he has secured a$750,000 loan from Wade for a lucrative real estate deal. Jerry unsuccessfully tries to call off the kidnapping. Wade and his accountant, Stan Grossman, inform Jerry that Wade will handle the deal himself, offering Jerry only a modest finder's fee. Because at first I'm like, why do you need money? Right. And then it's like to build like a parking lot that's like supposed to be in like a good spot.

SPEAKER_02 9:05

Like I but I I still don't understand why he would need that much money and why he would want to build a parking lot.

SPEAKER_04 9:12

I mean, I know he's like a car salesman, but yeah, what it's such a jerry thing, and like he does this, brings it to his dad, yeah, or to his father-in-law and Stan Grossman. Because it's like everyone has to say their full name in this movie. I don't get it. But they they're like having the meeting and they're just like, you know, like this is a great deal. This is like this is gonna pay out, like this is gonna be awesome. And he's like, Yeah, I know. And they're saying, All right, so what's your fee? And they'll just he's like, What? He's like, No, you're gonna give me the money so I can do this. It's like, what? We're like, we're not a bank. And and like they just basically like he like argues himself out of the finder's fee, yeah, and then they're just like, Hey, don't feel bad, but we're gonna run with this.

SPEAKER_02 9:51

Yeah, he's like, Do you mind? We're just gonna take this with us. Here you go. Just leave this here when you leave.

SPEAKER_04 9:56

Yeah. Like basically just like ruins him.

SPEAKER_02 9:59

Yeah. He just basically just took all his information and now he gets nothing.

SPEAKER_04 10:03

So which is like I believe that that happens to William H. Macy. Yes. Like, I could he he he is Jerry.

SPEAKER_02 10:11

Yeah. I mean, because everything he is is in, he's like very he's not an action guy. No, he's just except him.

SPEAKER_04 10:18

What's the movie where he's like the shoveler? Shoveler. Yeah, it's him, the guy who Oh, Mystery Man?

SPEAKER_02 10:24

Yeah, mystery men. It's a comedy, though. Him and Ben Stiller, and they're they're not really bowling ball guy. Yeah, they're not really action there either. It's just kind of like comedic, you know, buffoonery, you know.

SPEAKER_04 10:38

We should do that movie. That's that sounds like a better movie. So they try to he gets swindled out of his own deal. Wouldn't even his concept of how he would like why would I ask you for the money so I could go do this to pay you back when you could go do it and make all the money.

SPEAKER_02 10:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 10:58

Well, that and like you're adding extra unnecessary steps, and I'm losing money doing this.

SPEAKER_02 11:04

Any common sense would tell you though, don't give them all the information before you've worked out the deal. Because now you they they have the information, you don't have a deal, they don't need you anymore.

SPEAKER_04 11:15

Because even with his his jerk of its step or father-in-law, where he's like, Oh, you know, I could really use this money, and he's like, you know, it would be great for you know Gene and his son, and he's like, They'll never have to worry. It's like you will, not them. It's like, oh hang you about to dry Jerry Lundegaard.

SPEAKER_02 11:32

Well then, and then like when the uh the kidnappers come to get the wife, she just like sits there on the sofa.

SPEAKER_04 11:37

She's sitting watching Stevie Shemi look through the window, and she's just like staring at him, gaping, and then he breaks it, and then she like gets up, watchies, she takes you betcha, and she takes off running and breaks down the other one. Then she manages to like get away from him, yeah, gets upstairs and kind of pulls a fast one because she opens the window, yeah, and then hides in the shower. And he like Steve She's like, Oh crap! And he like runs out.

unknown 12:04

Ow.

SPEAKER_04 12:06

There's a chair there. There's a chair there. I just smacked my hand into. My hand, it's broken, I can't podcast. How will I go on? So he runs out, and then because Gare like cut himself. Well, then he starts going through the medicine cabinet, and he's like, I need he's like, I need a coagulate. And he's like going up, like cleaning, and like he just like looks up at the shower curtain because I think you heard a drip or something. Yeah, and he's like, and then she like comes running out with the shower curtain on her head, and she's just bumping in this stuff and falls down the stairs, yeah, knocks herself out. They think I think they thought like they killed her. Anyway, they kidnap her, throw her in the back of their trunk in their their free 87 cutlassier, yeah, and take off for Moose Lake at a cabin, and they get pulled over by a state trooper near Brainerd for not displaying temporary registration tags. And Stevie Shepherd's like, I got this, I got this, I got this. Like, I got like obvious because she's not even in the trunk, she's in the back seat. Right, she's just sitting there, and the most talking that Peter Stormare does is tell him to shut the F up multiple times in the movie. Or asking about pancakes. Yeah, the man likes pancakes.

SPEAKER_02 13:14

Well, what I thought was hilarious is when the guy comes up, Peter Stormare's character just pulls the gun and shoots him in the face, and Bushimi's character just like, oh daddy!

SPEAKER_04 13:27

Because he tries to bribe the cop and he like hands, he's like, he pulls out his wallet and he sees like he has like a 50 like conspicuously out. Like he's like, and the cop's like, oh, what's that you got there? He's like, it's my license and registration. He's like, it'd be great if we could just get this taken care of quickly.

SPEAKER_02 13:44

But he bad part is he says that like three times as he's trying to hand him his wallet.

SPEAKER_04 13:48

Yeah, I know. And then the trooper's like, Why don't you go ahead and step out of the car for me, please? And then like as he like goes to do he they hear the whimpering. Yeah, and Peter Stormer like grabs the trooper and like pins him against the door, shoots him in the top of the head, and blood goes everywhere. And Steve Sherry's like, oh, daddy.

SPEAKER_02 14:09

Oh my god that's a that's a strange choice of words in that moment.

SPEAKER_04 14:13

I know, I don't think I'd be going, oh daddy. He says it like four times. And it Pierce More's like, all right, he's like, get him out of here. And he's like dragging him away, and they see the headlights, and he's still like slowly dragging the guy. And I'm like, I would have like tried, like I would have thrown him down the ditch, grabbed the trooper hat, and sat in the car.

SPEAKER_02 14:35

Yeah. Something like you see him coming, he had time. The headlights were clearly visible from a distance. Yes.

SPEAKER_04 14:41

So then two witnesses go by.

SPEAKER_02 14:44

Like two teenagers. They look like teenagers. I don't know if they were.

SPEAKER_04 14:47

I don't know if they were, but they're like, they look at them and like look at Peter Stormare, and he's just staring at him, then they look at Stephen Chevy holding the trooper shot in the head, and then he guns it. Yeah, Peter Stormare gets in the car and takes off after him.

SPEAKER_02 15:00

And then they crash themselves.

SPEAKER_04 15:01

I know it's a straight line.

SPEAKER_02 15:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 15:05

Because he's chasing him, and then like the taillights disappear, and then he like rolls up and he sees them in the ditch. Yeah, and the dude takes off and he lets him get like a distance, and then he shoots him.

SPEAKER_02 15:14

But the whole thing to me, like a lot of stuff in this movie is just like, oh, it just happened stands. Oh, look at there, you know. Oh, jeez. But yeah, he like he takes off running, shoots him in the back, and then the girl down there still stuck in the car, and he just leans down and shoots her. Yeah. It's like, geez. What a guy. What a guy.

SPEAKER_04 15:34

Brainerd police chief, Marge Gunderson, don't you know, who's seven months pregnant, she's carrying quite a load.

SPEAKER_02 15:40

I'll be honest. Until towards the end of the movie. I didn't realize she was pregnant. I wasn't paying enough attention. I thought she was just wearing a big coat.

SPEAKER_04 15:48

I mean, it's cold up there. She does have a big coat up. Because she wakes up and she's like, This is Marge. I don't get like their politeness.

SPEAKER_02 15:59

The accents really got on my nerves the whole movie. Like I it bothered me.

SPEAKER_04 16:04

So she gets ready, the one dude who's in like everything, too. Isn't like Carol Lynch or something is his name.

SPEAKER_02 16:11

I can't remember, but I know who you're talking about. The uh the bald guy that's her husband, I guess, boyfriend or husband.

SPEAKER_04 16:17

He's like, I'll make you breakfast. Because it's like three o'clock in the morning. She comes back in the house. She goes, Hey Norm, Prowler won't start needs a jump. I know your accents, you don't like them.

SPEAKER_02 16:31

But like what kills me is like when the kidnappers they get the the wife back to their hideout or whatever, she's still got like the the uh shower curtain on her head when they're when she takes off like running and she's like, Oh, she's not even like bumping into anything, she's like freaking herself. Yeah, she's just like wandering through the snow, and they're just standing there watching her, like Steve Shep is just laughing at her.

SPEAKER_04 16:53

Which is pretty funny. So Marge goes out to the crime scene, begins investigating, and she correctly deduces that the dead trooper was ticketing a car with dealer plates because the guy's like, We're running every plate sums with DLR, and she goes, Oh, and she's like, I think you might want to double check your police work. She's like, DLR might be healer gag. He's like, Oh, are they idiots?

SPEAKER_02 17:18

Well, that's what I'll say, like Marge, she's got the easiest detective job ever because she just gets information, like it's just like falls in her lap the whole time.

SPEAKER_04 17:26

I think what's funny is it's a seven-month pregnant woman, yeah, who's the the at the detective star, it's not some like salty, grizzled, handsome guy.

SPEAKER_02 17:34

Well, I mean, we'll get to it throughout the the you know review here, but she just happens to run into the one guy that's doing everything. She happens to know that you know the information specifically on his vehicles. She happens to just drive by their vehicle later. Then she just gets all the information. She just knows what happens when she shows up at the crime scene.

SPEAKER_04 17:56

Yeah, because she's like talking through it. It's just like the one guy that ran and he's shot in the back, and then she looks at her, at the female victim, and she's like, Oh, she got shot through the hand and the face. She's like, I call that a defensive one.

SPEAKER_02 18:09

Well, then the only there was a part where like it didn't really matter for the rest of the movie, but she runs into like the Asian creeper guy that's like pretending like he's some kind of big shot.

SPEAKER_04 18:19

Yeah, but he's like crazy that living with his parents now.

SPEAKER_02 18:22

Yeah, but he was acting like he's some kind of big CEO or something like that, or stockbroker or something like that.

SPEAKER_04 18:26

Yeah, because he like calls her like 10. We'll get to that. Uh correctly, does it dealer plates? Uh she later learns that the two men driving a dealership vehicle checked into a nearby motel with two call girls and placed a call to Shep. Because they go to get they go to get laid.

SPEAKER_02 18:45

Yeah, it just like cuts to that scene.

SPEAKER_04 18:47

It's like, oh, it's like they're banging in separate beds and then it goes. Side by side. I know. And like Sushemi's like looking over at him, like, I'm like, like, dude, like, what are you doing? And then it cuts to them, like both in like they're all in bed and they're just watching like the tonight show.

SPEAKER_02 19:03

Like, I I mean, look, I know I'm not the best looking guy, but how does Bishimi and Peter Stormere just show up at a place and get women like that?

SPEAKER_04 19:12

He's like, I know a place where we can get laid. He's like, I want pancakes. He's like, We get something, he's like I want to spike steak. He's like, pancakes.

SPEAKER_02 19:22

Yeah, it was it surprised me because like I was watching my wife was sitting there and she was like, What are you watching? Because she walked in probably 10 minutes before, and then that scene popped up and she's like, What are you watching?

SPEAKER_01 19:33

Like, I it's part of the movie. I don't know. Tom made me do it.

SPEAKER_00 19:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 19:42

Bunch of girls going, oh yeah. Oh yeah. You betcha. Uh let's see. Marge visits Wade's shop because she goes uh Yeah, she goes to their to the dealership. Shepard acts like he has no idea who she's talking about. And she's like, Oh, you live alone? She's like, Well, who's calling at 345 in the morning? He's like, I think I'd remember someone called and woke me up out of sleep. Sorry. Just like grilling him and he like just disappears until later where he beats the crap out of Steve Shit.

SPEAKER_02 20:15

Oh, yeah, like hear his wears him out with that belt. I was like, could you I mean that's that was a beating.

SPEAKER_04 20:22

That was a whoopin'.

SPEAKER_02 20:23

It was just like continuous.

SPEAKER_04 20:25

What and he's just like saying curse words, like he's like cursing them out, but like just swearing at the same time. Like it doesn't make sense, but it's funny. And then Jerry nervously insists that there's no cars missing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:38

He uh well, like she she walks in and she's like, No, he's like, man, I swear, I know if there was a car missing off my lot. It's like, dude, just give it up. You're like, you're the most suspicious person here.

SPEAKER_04 20:49

He was acting sus.

SPEAKER_02 20:51

And then he's like, hold on, I'll be right back.

SPEAKER_01 20:53

And then he gets in his car and just drives away and drives by the window of the office. She's in. She's like, Oh, he's running. She's like, watching it. And she grabs the phone.

SPEAKER_04 21:01

She's like, Oh, how do I get an outside line?

SPEAKER_01 21:03

Hello?

SPEAKER_04 21:06

Excuse me. Jerry tells Wade the kidnappers have demanded one million dollars and will deal only through him. In light of the three murders, Carl demands that Jerry hand over the$80,000 he believes is the entire ransom. She finds Carl. Oh, okay, so we gotta skip up. Where he's like practicing what to say and he's like rehearsing it, and then he calls and he's like, he's like, Wait! He goes, uh yeah, yeah, wait Gustafsson, please. All right, thank you. And he's just like staying there waiting for it to happen.

SPEAKER_03 21:35

He's like, ah, jeez, wait.

SPEAKER_04 21:37

Because he like comes home and like sees it's like everything's gone. I'm just like, man, like do you even like your wife?

SPEAKER_02 21:42

Like she it makes me wonder, right? Because I mean they have a kid together, and it's like you would think the kid would notice that he's not really all that torn up that she's gone. So I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 21:54

It just maybe her annoying accent, he was like, Oh, thank God. Because when she was like making like Dinner or something, and she's just like, Oh yeah, I get him on the phone here in a jiffy. I'm just like, that's annoying to listen to.

SPEAKER_02 22:09

Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I just didn't. I was like, she kind of I don't mind her gone.

unknown 22:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:16

I didn't mind that she was gone. We got some peace of choir out here.

SPEAKER_04 22:20

Uh tells uh Stan Grossman and Wade that they'll only deal through him and they buy it. Well, he he was just kind of like, no, the because Wade's like they didn't want to call the cops, he wants to call like a pro or something to like like find him and kill him or something.

SPEAKER_02 22:37

Well, I mean, stepdad, he was just like, no, no, I'll take the money. No, I'm gonna do it. And the whole time Jerry's like, no, no, no, they just said they said just me. And the stepdad's like, nope, nope, it's gotta be me.

SPEAKER_04 22:48

He he was a jerk.

SPEAKER_02 22:50

Yeah, I mean kind of he kind of needed to go too, but he because I because he ends up driving and meeting the guy, uh meeting Bishimi's character on the top of like this parking garage in the snow.

SPEAKER_04 23:03

Uh the parking in this movie, because you never see lines, it's just snow-covered spots and people just parking wherever. Yeah, and you're just like, what are you guys doing? Like where Jerry leaves the meeting and he should they show him what walking all the way across his parking lot to his car. And I'm like, why don't you park closer?

SPEAKER_02 23:22

They didn't want to get the door to Ing or nothing.

SPEAKER_04 23:24

It's been and then he's like scraping the window and he's like, God damn it! Anyway, and he goes, picks it back up, goes back to scrapy. Scrapey's scrapy's scrapy.

SPEAKER_02 23:35

But like when when the father-in-law shows up to Bishimmy to change trade money or whatever, I can't remember, he pulls out a gun, doesn't he?

SPEAKER_04 23:43

Yeah, like because he's driving, because like when uh he calls and angrily demands the money, Wade like grabs the briefcase full of money, like puts his hat on, and he's like, I'm going. Yeah, and he's in the car, like rehearsing what he's gonna say when he gets there and he pulls out the revolver and he's like, Yeah. He's like, You don't mess with Wade Gustaf. And like I love how he like he rocks the cylinder back into the revolver, but he's angled up, and I'm like, the shells would have fallen out if they were in there.

SPEAKER_02 24:08

And I'm like, Well, I like how in the whole movie nobody really seemed to care that the daughter was gone. They just wanted to make a point that they were the tough guy.

SPEAKER_04 24:16

Yeah, because it's like nobody really cared Gene got kidnapped.

SPEAKER_02 24:19

Well, because like you know, the except the kid, yeah, because the Jerry he's he orchestrated it all, and then he's practicing his lines. Well, then her father-in-law or her father, instead of worrying about getting her back, he's worried about what he's gonna say and trying to be you know sound tough or whatever.

SPEAKER_04 24:33

I don't know, he just no gene, no money. There's like this whole thing in the car, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:40

And then he gets shot.

SPEAKER_04 24:42

And then because he pulls it up, Steve Bishemi crashes out. He's like, Who are you?

SPEAKER_03 24:47

Yeah, he's like, What is with you people? He's like, I gave simple instructions.

SPEAKER_02 24:55

Well, because he gets out, and then Bishemy does his freak out, and that's when uh Wade pulls out his gun and he's like, Give me my daughter, and then Bushimmy proceeds to shoot him.

SPEAKER_04 25:07

Yeah, he shoots him, Wade shoots him and like clips him across the jaw. Yeah, and then Steve Bishemi just starts blasting him into it.

SPEAKER_02 25:13

He lit him and he shot him with every shot he had.

SPEAKER_04 25:15

Oh, yeah, he mag dumped him after that. I mean, I would, I'd be really mad. I'd be I'd be emotional.

SPEAKER_02 25:20

But so the rest of the booty Bishimi's just holding his face the whole time.

SPEAKER_04 25:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:27

He's yelling at yeah, he's like, I got shot in the face.

SPEAKER_04 25:33

Which is funny. And then he kills the uh garage attendant on the way out. Because the garage attendant earlier, where he pulls up, steals the plates of another car to put on his car, and then he's like, Hey, he's like, I'm not gonna park here. And the guy's like, Oh, it's a four-dollar minimum. He's like, I know, but I'm leaving. Like, I haven't even parked.

SPEAKER_03 25:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 25:51

He's like, Oh, it's just he's like, he's like, he's like, You feel like you're like an authority figure? He's like, just starts messing with him. And he starts cursing him out.

SPEAKER_02 25:59

Well, and then when uh Jerry visits, you know, Jerry.

SPEAKER_04 26:02

Jerry goes to the crime scene and sees like the gates busted out, and then he sees like the parking tenant got shot.

SPEAKER_02 26:07

He's like, Oh, oh, geez. And then Bashimmy, he takes the the briefcase, he takes out just the money that he's gonna give to uh his partner. Sorry, I got the hiccups now.

SPEAKER_04 26:18

But he buries the in the snow next to a fence, like on the road. Yeah, and I'm like, How are you? I was like, he's like looking both directions, and it's just the same.

SPEAKER_02 26:26

And he only buried it in the snow. He didn't bury it underground.

SPEAKER_04 26:30

So if the snow melts, everybody's let's be sure that snow wasn't melting anytime soon.

SPEAKER_02 26:34

Well, I'm just saying, if the snow melts, everybody's gonna see it. He stuck a red handle ice scraper. Yeah, well, if it snows, that's gonna be covered up. You're never gonna see that. So that money's just gone.

SPEAKER_04 26:43

That was stupid what he did. Yeah, I should have just left it in the car.

SPEAKER_03 26:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 26:47

Because I was like, that's damn you, Stevie Shemmy. Did we miss the part where we did miss the part where he gets the crap beat out of him by Shep?

SPEAKER_02 26:58

No. Jerry gets beat up by Shep.

SPEAKER_04 27:00

Yeah, no. Carl gets beat up by Shep.

SPEAKER_02 27:02

Oh, he does? I missed that part.

SPEAKER_04 27:04

Oh yeah, we missed it. Shep finds Carl with a call girl in Shep's Minneapolis apartment and beats him in retaliation for bringing Shep to the police's attention. Because he's out on a date with that rough-looking broad.

SPEAKER_02 27:14

I missed that one.

SPEAKER_04 27:16

Because they end up banging. And she's like it's like another like cutscene where it's like you see like her from the back and she's just like riding him. And she's she's like, oh yeah, jingle those bells. And Rachel's like, what?

SPEAKER_03 27:31

Like, oh yeah, had to stuff my face with pepper fabs.

SPEAKER_04 27:34

Oh, that is right. Because yeah, it's just them. Because then Chef shows up, grabs the girl, like rips her off of him, and then just starts beating the crap out of Steve Bushevy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:43

Because I remember seeing him huddled like that.

SPEAKER_04 27:45

Because the girl's like running away and he kicks her while she's going down the hallway screaming.

SPEAKER_02 27:50

Yeah. I remember that now.

SPEAKER_04 27:51

Yeah. And he's just cursing out Steve Bushevy, like kicking him and punching him. He pulls his belt out and just starts hitting him.

SPEAKER_02 27:57

Yeah. Well, because I thought he hit he beat up Jerry too, didn't he?

SPEAKER_04 28:02

No, he didn't beat up Jerry.

SPEAKER_02 28:03

Okay, no. Okay. Well, then that is the one I remember. I remember beating him with the belt, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 28:07

Just cursing him out. That was a good beating. Anyway, now back to the present. Carl Fine. Jerry sees it all. On the way to Moose Lake, Carl discovers the briefcase contains a million. He takes 80,000 to split with Gare, buries the rest in the snow, which was stupid, as we've discussed.

SPEAKER_02 28:26

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 28:27

Marge returns to Wade's dealership, where an agitated Jerry again insists no cars are missing and tells Marge he will double check the inventory himself. And then Marge sees Jerry driving off the lot and calls the state police.

SPEAKER_02 28:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 28:40

Because he's like fudging the number, like the VIN numbers.

SPEAKER_02 28:43

Yeah, well, because he like deliberately writes them to where they can't read them.

SPEAKER_04 28:46

Yeah. Because the guy calls me. He's like, Oh, he's like, You're a hard man to get a hold of Mr. Blondegaard. He's like, I just can't read them. He's like, he's like, Oh, I'll send him a fax over. He's like, No good. That's what we did last time. Can't make out the numbers. And then it's like, I guess, like they gave him a loan. Yeah. But for like what I still don't get, like, you need the money for this parking lot? Like, is that what he did this time?

SPEAKER_02 29:07

I I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 29:08

I don't know what Jerry had really going on. Jerry was doing a lot. So the he questions he gets mad. He's like, I'm cooperating with you.

SPEAKER_02 29:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 29:17

Which he's not.

SPEAKER_02 29:18

Yeah, exactly. He's just like trying to beat her on the bush and like lead her anywhere else but toward him.

SPEAKER_04 29:23

Yeah. And then he's like, I'll go check it myself. And he goes out. And then she's just sitting there, like looking around. She's like looking at his desk. And then she just looks and he drives right by.

SPEAKER_02 29:32

She's like, Oh, he's running there. And then it goes back to uh Bishimi returning to yes.

SPEAKER_04 29:40

At the cabin, Carl finds that Gare killed Gene because she would not stay quiet. Okay, that's what I was wondering.

SPEAKER_02 29:46

I didn't know did she die or did she just get he didn't just knock her out again?

SPEAKER_04 29:49

No, he killed her.

SPEAKER_02 29:50

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 29:50

Because she wouldn't shut up.

SPEAKER_02 29:52

Yeah, I believe that.

SPEAKER_04 29:54

Carl says they should split up and leave immediately, and they argue over who will keep the Sierra.

SPEAKER_02 30:00

Oh my god. Well, what's it? Gare. Guerre. He's just like, what was it? Watching cartoons or something while he's eating cereal? And and then Bishimmy's like, no, I'm keeping the car. I got shot. It's like, yeah, well, he kind of has a point, although he is, you know, he doesn't know he's hiding the other money, but yeah, but it's like, hey, Stevie Shimmy drove the entire time. Yeah. And he got shot. And he got shot. All you do was stay here.

SPEAKER_04 30:23

And he went and got the money.

SPEAKER_02 30:24

Yeah. You stayed here with the kidnapped woman and then killed her.

SPEAKER_04 30:27

Now, granted, Stevie Shumi should have understood that Gare has killed three people. Yes. Well, four at this point now.

SPEAKER_02 30:33

Without hesitating.

SPEAKER_04 30:34

Yeah. So he's killed a state trooper, two witnesses, and the woman they kidnapped. And he loves pancakes. Yeah. And you're gonna tell him like you're gonna talk off to that guy. It's like, uh you might just want to let him take the take the Sierra.

SPEAKER_02 30:51

But I like how when he walks out of the house, like he walks a good like 10 feet of all of a sudden you see.

SPEAKER_04 30:57

Peter Surber comes out in like long Johns with gloves and like a like a Russian, like puffy hat on and a like a huge axe.

SPEAKER_02 31:04

Well, I like how uh Bishimi's character he doesn't actually sound terrified. He's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

SPEAKER_04 31:10

Like he spins because he hears him that he's already like four feet from him, like with the axe up. He's like, and then next scene. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:21

And this is the part where she just drives by and happens to see him. She's like, she's like, Yeah, I think I'll be headed home soon. Oh, hey, here's the Sierra, there's the car, that's the car I've been looking for.

SPEAKER_04 31:31

Marge drives to Moose Lake, tipped off by a local bar bartender who overheard a customer brag about killing someone because they were like, Oh, are you going to this lake? And she's like, No, Moose Lake's closest. She's like, I'm going to that one first. And I'm like, How are you in radio contact? Good question. Because they're in another state, right? No, there's they should all still be in Minnesota.

SPEAKER_02 31:52

Oh.

SPEAKER_04 31:53

Or North Dakota. I don't know where they are at this point. They're they're they're around.

SPEAKER_02 31:56

They're up north. All you northerners look alike.

SPEAKER_04 31:58

They're in unincorporated Canada. That's where they're at. So she sees, and I was like, she's just out there, it's like with her like a little revolver, and it's like it's the pregnant woman. Because that's when she finds putting Steepishemi through the wood chipper in pieces. Because she like looks, and you just see this foot.

SPEAKER_02 32:18

And he's like, trying to push it down in there.

SPEAKER_03 32:21

Yeah. And then the whole time she's like, freeze!

SPEAKER_02 32:25

And he can't hear.

SPEAKER_03 32:27

She's like, police freeze. And then he like looks up, like, someone say something. He looks and sees her, he's like, huh. Starts running across a frozen lake. Where are you going?

SPEAKER_04 32:41

I know. And then she shoots him in the leg and a- I'm like, how'd you arrest him? Like, he's killed multiple people.

SPEAKER_02 32:47

Yeah, I mean, and he just runs from her. I don't understand.

SPEAKER_04 32:50

It's Marge Gunderson.

SPEAKER_02 32:52

Very convenient.

SPEAKER_04 32:55

I feel like a lot of it is.

SPEAKER_02 32:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 32:58

Yeah, it is. A lot of it was convenient. So she arrests him, and then shortly after, Jerry's arrested by the state troopers at a motel outside Bismarck, North Dakota. Which was funny. It's like, hey, Mr. Anderson, is this your car? And he's like, oh yeah, beam in it. And then like the cops like they like the it was like warrants. Like it was funny. Because the two cops pull their guns and the like the office manager, like, just like quietly puts the key on the left and steps off, and they're just like, boom, and he's just like, nah!

SPEAKER_01 33:27

He's like screaming and crying.

SPEAKER_04 33:32

He's just on the bed, like in his like pants, just like nah with his hands behind his back. That seemed really true to life.

SPEAKER_02 33:38

Start yelling and crying.

SPEAKER_04 33:40

Yeah. I was like, that's that's real. That's good acting. That's why you're playing that character with the image. Marriage's husband Norm tells her the Postal Service has selected his painting of a mallard for a three cent postage stamp and complains that the Hauptman brothers painting won the competition for a 29 cent stamp. Marge reminds him that the smaller denomination stamps make up the difference between the face value of old stamps and the new cost of first class postage. Norm is reassured, and the couple happily anticipates the birth of their child.

SPEAKER_02 34:12

Yeah, because that was important to this to the movie.

SPEAKER_04 34:15

I know. It's just like that's just like all this murder, subterfuge, plots to kidnap people. People get put through wood sheppers and it ends and they're just like in bed.

SPEAKER_02 34:22

Yeah. This is a stupid movie.

SPEAKER_04 34:26

This is a stupid movie.

SPEAKER_02 34:27

I've seen a lot of people like, oh yeah, it's one award. Oh, this movie's great. This movie sucked.

SPEAKER_04 34:32

This is not a Mitch-approved film.

SPEAKER_02 34:35

No, it was I was like, why am I watching this?

SPEAKER_04 34:38

Let's see. It's got an 8.8 out of 10 on Yeah, I know. And it's got a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes.

SPEAKER_02 34:44

And I don't understand. I mean, like I said, the acting was fine. The plot makes sense. It's just the way everything went about. I was just like, this is dumb.

SPEAKER_04 34:52

Trying to see if there's any awards.

SPEAKER_02 34:55

I'm pretty sure it was some kind of award.

SPEAKER_04 34:57

Okay. Francis McDormand won Best Actress.

SPEAKER_02 35:00

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_04 35:01

Not the Academy Awards. Best original screenplay for Joel for the Cohen Brothers, they won.

SPEAKER_02 35:05

Why?

SPEAKER_04 35:06

I don't know, dude. It was 1997. Like, what was the competition?

SPEAKER_02 35:10

Armageddon.

SPEAKER_04 35:12

You and I both know. What else? What other awards? Best direction, Joel Cohen. He won a BAFTA.

SPEAKER_02 35:21

Why? For what?

SPEAKER_04 35:24

Con Film Festival, Best Director, Joel Cohen won. Fargo won. Critics Choice Awards. Best picture, best actress. They won.

SPEAKER_02 35:34

Okay, first of all, this movie went up against Turbo, a Power Rangers movie, and Batman Robin.

SPEAKER_04 35:41

Once he said, I was like, I was like, I was like, it didn't go up against Mighty Morphin. That you were like Turbo. I was like, oh. Yeah, Turbo was not great.

SPEAKER_02 35:48

Let's see. There was The Lost World, Event Horizon, uh Dante's Peak, Volcano, Spawn, Wild America, Con Air, Liar Liar, Beverly Hills Ninja. Yeah, it didn't have a whole lot of uh the competition was that tight that year. Did have flubber in the fifth element in G.I. Jane. Air Force One.

SPEAKER_04 36:17

Get off my plane.

SPEAKER_02 36:19

Let's see. I know what you did last summer. Uh gone fishing. Speed two! Starship Troopers. That's pretty much it. Oh, the devil's advocate was that year two.

SPEAKER_04 36:35

Oh, if you go to the production notes for the movie on Wikipedia at the bottom, the accent. They were like, it was like an unofficial cast member. It's like locals reported that to this day, Taurus still requests people to say, Yeah, you betcha. They're like the accent was just another character.

SPEAKER_02 36:55

It was a little much. I got tired of it real quick.

SPEAKER_04 37:01

They had to teach McDormand Minnesota nice and the characteristic head nodding to show agreement when someone's talking to you.

SPEAKER_02 37:09

Let's see. The movie the budget was 7 million and it ended up making 60 million. So I mean it it did alright for money. Yeah, it's indeed.

SPEAKER_04 37:21

I just didn't like it. I liked it, but I'm not gonna be like, oh, Fargo. Like I need to watch Fargo. I mean it wasn't bad, but it wasn't anything to write on about.

SPEAKER_02 37:31

I've seen it now, I never have to watch it again.

SPEAKER_04 37:36

It is just one of those, you gotta see it.

SPEAKER_02 37:38

It does say that the role of Carl Schoalter was written specifically for Bushimi, though.

SPEAKER_04 37:42

I believe that. He had a big run of movies in the 90s.

SPEAKER_02 37:50

It says the the Coens have described Minnesota as Siberia with family restaurants.

SPEAKER_04 37:56

Yeah, because they go to like some place. I can't remember the name of the restaurant that they went to, but it was like buffet style. And she has this like huge tray just loaded up. And I think another cop comes in. And it's like, oh Margie. She's like, oh hey there. He's like, how's the like the how's the fricosay today? She's like, I don't know, I haven't tried it yet. Let's see. I'm trying to look and see what 90s bucemy movies he did. Because I remember he's he did a lot in the 90s. Let's see. How many of these do I know? Reservoir Dogs, I guess his bigger first one. Pulp fiction. I don't finally know he was in pulp fiction.

SPEAKER_02 38:44

Says Arth Presnell hadn't made a movie in 20 years when he got cast as Wade.

SPEAKER_04 38:50

Billy Madison. He's in Escape from LA.

SPEAKER_02 38:54

Is he?

SPEAKER_04 38:55

Wow, I didn't know that. Conair, the big Lebowski, the Wedding Singer, Armageddon, Big Daddy. Anything with Adam Stanley. Yeah, anything with Adam Stanley. I forgot he's in the Big Lebowski. That's another like just coinessential. Just you have to see it once. That's a funny movie, though. It's funnier than Fargo. Be the dude. Just drinking his white Russians.

SPEAKER_02 39:22

Yeah, I mean, I'm sure there's reasoning behind other people liking the movie, but it was not something I care to watch again. And I mean there was funny parts, but in the end, I was like, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 39:35

Because the end really just kind of picks up where it's just like, all right, Stevie Shema gets shot, then he gets killed by Gere, and then Gare's putting him through a wood chip where he can't hear the cops yelling at him.

SPEAKER_02 39:46

Well, like the the premise that the this pregnant officer just happens upon all this information, makes like the uh the blues clues person look like they struggle more than she did. Trying to find information.

SPEAKER_04 40:02

Because a lot of it was just kind of like I mean, I guess it's just pure luck. Because she goes to the crime scene, immediately deduces like pretty much what happened. Yeah. Like exactly, like she was there and figures that. And I don't know if she's like actually like the chief of the police or something. Because everybody just comes to like see her, so I'm assuming she's in charge.

SPEAKER_02 40:23

I guess. I don't know why she would be out there seven months pregnant doing stuff either.

SPEAKER_04 40:28

I know, which is I guess also in a way it's funny.

SPEAKER_02 40:32

I wonder what happened to the kid of Jerry and yeah, what happened to that kid? Because they never mentioned that either. He's lost his granddad and his mom and dad. Or and his mom, yeah, mom and dad.

SPEAKER_04 40:43

Yeah, mom, grandpa, and mom dead. Dad prison for the rest of his life. Oh, jeez. You hate to see it. Yeah, you betcha. You betcha, yeah. Jingle my bet.

SPEAKER_02 40:57

There should have been like something at the end of like the credits where somebody just happens upon the money, like next to that fence one day. I know. Just like so it's like, huh, look at that. He looks around. Oh shit. Oh, death. That'd be funny. Yeah, I mean, I like I said, uh, Bushimi's character is probably the most entertaining of the whole movie.

SPEAKER_04 41:20

Like where they're driving, and he's like, Spears of breast, like all this like says nothing. And he's just like, obviously, he's like, no. And he's like, Wow, eight hours in the car. That's the first thing. No, man, what a conversationalist. And then he's like arguing with them that like he's like, I'll give you the cultural, I'm not gonna say nothing. As he keeps telling him he's not gonna say he just kept talking. He's still talking and he's just like sitting there because like where he's beating up the TV when they're in the cabin because it wouldn't work, and Pierce Mur is just like staring at him. It's like, oh yeah, he's gonna he's gonna kill you. Like, you're gonna die.

SPEAKER_02 41:51

Yeah. Uh well, I don't really have anything else for this. It was it was a movie, it was a film, and we watched it. I blame you, Tom.

SPEAKER_04 42:02

I I blame me too.

SPEAKER_02 42:03

Had you seen this before that?

SPEAKER_04 42:05

I just seen like bits.

SPEAKER_02 42:06

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_04 42:07

And the bits I saw, like I saw like the deal where they he Carl kills Wade. Like, I saw that, and I was like, Oh, it's some killing. The wood chipper scene, I'd seen that, and then I think when they get pulled over, like I'd seen like those bits and like maybe a part where Jerry's at like the dealership, like, oh geez. Oh, yeah, oh, the true code, that's what you want. I don't want that. When those customers are like cursing him out, it's like you said we didn't have to pay for it.

SPEAKER_02 42:33

He's like, Ah, let me talk to my boss. Okay, then he goes in there just like all car dealers and doesn't talk to anything about that. He's just like, Yeah, what are you doing this weekend? Yeah, we'll do what we can do when he gets back in there.

SPEAKER_04 42:44

He's like, All right, he's like, This has never happened. He's like, I can take off a hundred dollars. And the guy just like is like cursing him out. His wife's like, Oh my god. He's like, he's like, get the checkbook. Yeah, they just give her the money.

SPEAKER_02 42:54

It's like, why?

SPEAKER_04 42:56

I don't know. I'm like, nobody wants that true coat crap. No, because like the one dude's at the dealership looking at it, and he's like, he's like, Oh, let me tell you about the truth. He's like, Don't want it. He's like, it protects the paint.

SPEAKER_02 43:11

Yeah, I mean, I can tell you this. One thing to entertain this podcast is not gonna do is just go along with the critics.

SPEAKER_04 43:18

Yeah, we will tell you we did not like something, despite what their uh ratings are.

SPEAKER_02 43:23

Yeah, 95% raw tomatoes. We're the five percent. He's gonna come back and be like, you know, let me tell you why it was a good movie.

SPEAKER_04 43:30

Let me scientifically explain this to you, because you two are dumb. Let me show you this. Let me tell you why you're wrong.

SPEAKER_02 43:36

Yeah. That's all I got.

SPEAKER_04 43:39

Yeah, that's all I got.

SPEAKER_03 43:41

Well, big bulbs. See you later. Well, see you later.