Fargo shows potential for greatness
Breakout actress Allison Tolman stars as Molly Solverson, a young up and coming deputy, on the new FX series “Fargo.” (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune/MCT)
May 14, 2014
There is no shortage of crime thriller remakes on television today, from NBC’s Hannibal to A&E’s Bates Motel. Adding to this lineup, with a Tuesday at 10 p.m. time slot, is Fargo on FX.
The series is an original adaption of the 1996 film, but features new stories, cases and characters. It follows closely the design the Coen brothers established in their original film.
A main concern for viewers is how actors manage to pull off believable Midwestern accents. Since Freeman is an English actor I understand his fairly exaggerated take on the accent, but he was not the worst offender here. It was ac
tually the American actors who butchered the regional drawl the most, to the extent that it took away from the scenes.
Another negative take away would have to be the scripting of natural, small talk among characters which proved jerky and noticeably unusual. This could have been done on purpose by writer Noah Hawley to convey an unsettling “sweetness” of the Minnesota locals. Hawley perhaps did this to better set a scene of controlled people uncomfortable to their own desires and natures, easier to be exploited by antagonists.
The greatest asset to this property is their casting. Lead characters “Lester Nygaard” and “Lorne Malvo” are portrayed by award winning actors Martin Freeman and Billy Bob Thornton. Thornton being casted as Malvo was a smart move because he is highly believable in this role of a manipulative, cold, rootless man. Thornton delivers a character who is unsettling, but understandably influential. Although people around him do not want to, they listen, agree, and act upon his suggestions.
Thornton’s character stands as a sharp contrast to his co-star Freeman who is a reactionary, submissive salesman by the name of Nygaard. Nygaard is depicted as the kind of person to garner enough pity that even those who pity him have grown to be annoyed by his passive nature. This, naturally, is key to his character development later on.
Overall, the show did a fine job of introducing key characters along with plot points in a reasonable fashion. This show has steep competition from others who have already found artistic success in this genre, but lack the audience needed to keep it on air. For the sake of “Fargo,” it should clean up the few hiccups it experienced and find a strong viewer population.
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