In order to gain a piece of his father-in-law's fortune, a financially desperate husband (William H. Macy) hires two hitmen (Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare) to fake a kidnapping of his wife in Joel and Ethan Coen's 1996 noir-comedy film, Fargo. Frances McDormand won a 1996 best actress Oscar for her portrayal of the pregnant police chief who cracks the botched-kidnapping, multiple-homicide case. More than murders, people-pulverizing woodchippers, and snowstorms, Fargo brought allegedly genuine midwestern mannerisms and dialect to urban America, and an Academy award for best original screenplay to the native-Minnesotan Coen brothers.

Further Reading:

Bennun, David. "Coen for Gold." Melody Maker. June 1, 1996, 24.