((Fargo vs. A Simple Plan) vs. In Bruges)

I figured I would have some fun with the title of my post and make all three of the movies that are currently debated and pit them against each other in a fight to the death, literally and figuratively, since that is an expression to see who comes out superior, and also because there was so much death in each of these movies.

To begin, let me first make some comments on our most recent film: Fargo.

My first comment is directed at Billy and his comment that there were "too many loose ends left at the end of the movie." I personally don't mind loose ends at a movie, and that often times happens at the end of most the Coen Brothers movies, in fact all that I've seen. Personally, I believe that they do this because in life, there are more loose ends, no one ever knows what happens to everyone else at the end of something, people just disappear into oblivion. I know that as much I would like what happens to all of my classmates after they graduate, I know that I will never see every single person and therefore loose ends form and you forced to imagine what happens because you can't be sure.

In this way, they introduce characters that may seem useless, but it just adds to the point that we can't know the truth about anything and we will not find out how every character lives the rest of their lives, you can only wonder.

Secondly, one of the things I definitely noticed about the film was the similarity in one of their shots in both Fargo and another one of their movies, No Country For Old Men. The scene in Fargo where Shep Proudfoot is choking Carl with the belt and the two fall to the ground and Carl's foot hit the ground and even the way he was choked was nearly identical, when at the opening of No Country, Anton is choking the police and he does so with the handcuffs and the two fall to the ground, almost the same set of shots are used. They aren't identical but definitely similar and it came to mind when I saw the scene in Fargo today.

I actually just watched the two and they aren't that similar, I guess in my "unreliable" memory that struck me as more similar but I included the videos anyway. You can decide for yourself.

Here is the video from No Country For Old Men:




And Fargo:



Now, onto the comparison of the three films. I'll simplify these with categories so this post doesn't get too long.

Best Directing: Fargo
Best Acting: In Bruges
Most Realistic: A Simple Plan
Funniest: In Bruges
Best Writing: Fargo/In Bruges
Darkest Picture of Reality: Fargo
Most Exciting Landscape: This is a tough one because one was in Bruges, and as Ray put it "Maybe that's what hell is, the entire rest of eternity spent in bleeping Bruges." Whereas the other two were stark, barren Midwestern Landscapes. So this category would have to go to Bruges because of the art, as Mr. Bennett has mentioned.
Most Insulting to Other Groups: In Bruges
Best Cinematography: Fargo (Roger Deakins is the best there is)
Best Executed: In Bruges/A Simple Plan
Most Painful to Watch: Fargo (not a good thing, because it was slow)
Bloodiest: A Tie

I split it up into those categories but that still may not matter, because if I were to rank them in which order I liked them the most, in 1st place would be In Bruges because it was the most well-executed, the funniest, and just the most enjoyable and satisfying to watch. It was also clever and memorable.

Maybe it is because I am usually a happy person, but I found something missing in both A Simple Plan and Fargo. I always feel that sometimes the Coen Brothers try too hard to be original and go too far and miss the point and go beyond the realm of realism, but then again, A Simple Plan did that too. I found both movies to be somewhat funny because of its violence but Fargo was going for that, and A Simple Plan was not.

I found that both were depressing and missed the mark on suspense or plot turns. I expected almost all of the events in both films to happen ahead of time and I didn't feel particularly connected to any character, except maybe Marge but still she seemed foreign. I was just looking for something more from them. They each just missed the mark with me on trying to create a place and characters I could believe.

But I have to have an opinion so I will give edge to Fargo but barely just because the acting, cinematography, and story was slightly more clever and better executed in it, especially William H. Macy, Frances McCormand, and Steve Buscemi, and creepy guy were better than Bridget Fonda, Bill Paxton, and Billy Bob Thornton, and fat drunk guy. And the filming was just better in Fargo then A Simple Plan, it was filmed cleaner and more beautiful and clear, but as I said, Roger Deakins is the greatest.

So final grades in the showdown (out of 100)
7 Categories: Directing, Screenwriting, Acting, Cinematography, Story, Realism, Underlying Message (each category out of 10 x 1.4285714) For detailed results in each category you can ask me tomorrow, I can't make this any longer, it is bordering on ridiculous)

In Bruges: 86/100
Fargo: 73/100
A Simple Plan 71/100