Just watched it for the first time, knew almost nothing about it going in.
Overall opinion: It was an alright movie, not bad. I had a good time, but it didn’t seem groundbreaking or particularly funny or shocking. So what gives? Why do I hear so much about it?
My best guess is that the movie was shocking when it was released, because of the outright murder and violence, and I’m just desensitized to that in film now, so it wasnt as revelatory to me
It’s pretty unique in that for how outlandish and crazy the events are, they’re portrayed in an everyday, boring way. You have this crazy caper, people getting shot, kidnapped, shredded… yet the rest of the world just moves along as if nothing is really different.
Frances McDormand’s character of
sheriffpolice chief Gunderson is very good at her job, yet it shows as just another mundane daily task to her. She sees all this crazy stuff and just goes back home and goes about her day.William H. Macy’s character is terrible at this plot to earn some money, and instead of pulling the plug, just keeps digging himself deeper and deeper, getting a lot of people killed in the process. And in the end, he just gets snagged at a motel, not a big, long, drawn out manhunt.
I should go watch it again…
Definitely after chewing on it for a day or so, it is quite memorable. The scene where he exits the cabin with the axe is still pretty fresh in my mind and I find myself thinking about it from time to time. Aesthetically it was pretty pleasant while simultaneously being off-putting.
Watched it again last night, it’s such a classic Coen movie.
I just love how you can see exactly why everyone does what they do, even when it’s the worst possible decision, there’s just no other choice.