The Coen's first massive hit, but far from my favourite of their films.  Career defining performances for Frances McDormand, Steve Buscemi, and William H. Macy all of whom have managed to stay at peak levels since the film.  The grim humour is set off perfectly on the bleak backdrop of wintery Minnesota and North Dakota, the place where the Coen's grew up.  My favourite scene is where Steve Buscemi buries the money in the snow by a fence post in a farmer's field and then realizing that his marker is one of hundreds of identical posts along literally miles of anonymous roads, he sticks the small window scrapper in the snow so that he can find it later.

This movie sort of left me cold, although I enjoyed Frances McDormand's portrayal of the affable but determined pregnant cop.

I like the film alot, especially William H.Macy, as the used car dealer, who can't seem to get a brake, and desides to stage his wife's kidnapping, in order to make ends meet, by hiring two men who are abit on the psychotic side.

The wood chipper scene, as grisly as it is, is definetly memorable. 

Wood chipper.

Alright, the Norwegian accents are way over the top, but this is still destined for cult status.

This movie just didn't do it for me. It was very popular here in L.A. and all of my friends loved it, but I just found nothing charming or "lovably quirky" about these stereotypical snow dwelling midwesterners with poor diets and annoying accents/speech patterns. This film was a bit of a dud and waaaaaaayyyyyyy overrated.

Excellent, often over the top, but it works on multiple levels. One of my favorite movies and second only to "Miller's Crossing" among the Coen Brothers canon.