The Couch Critic
The Couch Critic is your laid-back guide to movies and TV shows that deserve your attention—or maybe don’t. Nathan dives deep into storytelling, character development, and cinematic style with a sharp eye and a wry sense of humor. Whether it’s a blockbuster hit, a hidden gem, or a cult classic, Nathan’s relatable approach ensures every episode feels like a cozy chat with a friend who just happens to love film. Perfect for casual watchers and cinephiles alike, The Couch Critic brings thoughtful critique without the fluff. Grab your favorite snack, settle in, and let Nathan guide you through the world of screen entertainment.
The Couch Critic
Truth, Deception, and Dark Humor
Is "Fargo" really based on true events, or did the Coen Brothers pull a fast one on us? Join Natey and Katy as they break down this classic film with a playful mix of humor and analysis. They start by donning their best Midwestern accents to set the stage for discussing Jerry Lundegaard's bumbling crimes and Frances McDormand's standout performance as Marge Gunderson, which earned her a Best Actress Oscar. They also dive into a comparison with "The Big Lebowski," noting the unique storytelling styles and unforgettable quotable lines that make both films iconic.
Their conversation doesn't shy away from the film's controversial aspects, particularly its infamous "based on true events" claim. Natey and Katy explore the ethics and effectiveness of this tactic, adding depth to their review. The discussion heats up as they talk about the film’s captivating storyline, its moments of intense violence, and the abrupt ending that leaves some viewers wanting more. From the shocking wood chipper scene to the tragic fate of the wife, no stone is left unturned. While acknowledging "Fargo" as a significant piece of cinema, their opinions vary on whether it's a must-watch. Tune in for an engaging blend of humor and thoughtful critique that promises to entertain and provoke thought.
Hello, hello everyone. I'm so tired. Oh yeah, hello, hello, how are you? Hello everyone, hello everyone.
Speaker 2:One's a movie buff, one watches movies, just enough. Together, fun will be had by all. This is Nadine Cady at the Movies, the movies. Well, hey, there everybody. This is Nady and Katie at the movies. You darn tootin' it is. This is Nathan, aka Nady, of course, and I'm going to start going to an Irish accent a little bit with it. And on today's episode, I have my good friend Katie. Hey, katie, how are you?
Speaker 3:Oh, don't you know I'm doing so good, just great, you're darn tootin' I am.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, all right. So we could be doing that through the whole show, but we're not going to do that. So if you can't guess already and you don't pay attention to our social media at all, you should know that we are talking about the coen brothers classic, like the dark comedy is what you would call it fargo. And but before we can talk about the movie at all, I gotta go over the synopsis, you know. So Minnesota car salesman Jerry Lungard's inept crimes falls apart due to his and his henchman's bungling and the Steve Buscemi, peter Starmer and some other people you know or you may not know, I don't know.
Speaker 3:Oh, don't you know, I know that, don't you know? I know? Yeah, so this is a Midwestern accent, maybe from Minnesota. But, nathan, I think I'm probably better at it just because I spent about three years of my life using this accent as Coach Connie.
Speaker 2:And I did this one for my character, Coach Butts, but I'm not going to do this for the entire show because that might really annoy some people.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I remember that was like uh, based on jimmy neutron's friend.
Speaker 3:right, that was your inspiration carl yeah, he likes llamas and he likes when his mom tickles his belly and says nonny, nonny, nonny, oh my so, starting right off the bat you said it's a dark comedy, I feel like the accents they just went so hard on the minnesota accent and that was hilarious to me. I I loved it more, some characters more than others. But yeah, the darn tootings and the don't you knows, and all that stuff was a fantastic officer. Her name's Marge Marge best character In my opinion. She's so dry, like she's not the whole thing is. She's not no one's trying to be, you know, like funny. I don't know. I loved her but I'd never seen this movie and you know what I realized? The cool artwork where it's like kind of like a stitch work of a person face down in the snow. It looks so much like anatomy of the fall. Did you make that connection?
Speaker 2:no, I didn't, but I can see. I can see that comparison and uh. But going back to francis mcdormand's character of marge gunderson, she actually won best actress in a comedy for this movie and rightly so like you said, all the characters are very deadpan.
Speaker 2:It's kind of like office humor a little bit that you know they take it a little too seriously and the fact that they take it serious is what makes this movie a comedy and so, yeah, there is a lot of humor in there because of just strictly because of that. But everything else that goes on in this movie is very, very much Coen Brothers over the top violence.
Speaker 1:A lot of profanity.
Speaker 2:What we come to expect from a Coen Brothers, because we did watch the Big Lebowski as well. They directed that, and one thing I liked about this one compared to the big lebowski, is that this one actually had a storyline and it had a clear inclusion I would not have put this as being in the same.
Speaker 3:Like you know, the same directors it. It had the similar like dude kind of a vibe with their accents and but at the same time and I think it's equally quotable I will say that maybe that's another comparison. It's tons of quotable lines from this movie. But to your point, yeah, it's, it's also it's a crime thing, right? So you're like trying to figure out what's going to happen. This guy's basically having his wife kidnapped to make money. So yeah, I'm carrying the whole movie of like what's going to happen, and then there is resolution at the end.
Speaker 3:Here's the thing that I am very confused by and I want clarification the beginning of the movie there's a black title screen that says this is based on true events and it says you know, names have been changed for the, you know, out of respect for the dead, and there's a lot of people that die first of all. So I'm like, wow, that's a lot of people that you know you had to get approval for to watch this movie. But I was immediately after the movie. I looked up what is fargo based on and and it's a bunch of baloney. It's a lie. It's literally a lie.
Speaker 3:It is not based on a real story. There's like one or two parts that are unrelated in real life but are both like things that did happen. Like there was a real person who's put someone through a wood chipper, like I think he put his wife through a wood chipper. So that really happened, but it has nothing to do with like this. This story. There is no, you know, marge pregnant, uh, officer. So I'm just like, and all the research I could find basically said that they did that because they're like, oh, you'll be more invested in the story if we put that. But I don't know in my mind that's just wrong, like why you should not be allowed to say this is based on real events if it's not.
Speaker 2:Well, and apparently the film's special edition DVD includes a claim that the film was inspired by the 1986 murder of Hel Crafts, who was a Danish-American flight attendant, by her husband, richard. But when people did fact checking on that, it concluded that it was also wrong in a prank and it's just a way.
Speaker 3:I just feel like you should not be allowed to do that well it's.
Speaker 2:It's a way to get people to watch your movie and then look up information about your movie and see if it's we're real or not. But it um, yeah, it's not, it's not. Uh, it's not real. And they actually do. Apparently they do the exact same thing in the fargo tv show. They put at the beginning of the tv show that this is based on true events and it's actually okay yeah, so when I was first when I was looking up to watch this.
Speaker 3:I was like fargo tv show. I didn't realize there was. I guess maybe I'd heard of it how linked up to watch this. I was like Fargo TV show. I didn't realize there was. I guess maybe I'd heard of it how linked up, because obviously this is a movie. How much have you seen any of the TV show Is?
Speaker 2:it similar? I have not, but I know that Martin Freeman, who plays a young Bobo Baggins, is in the first season and I believe Chris Rock's in the second season and I believe Chris rocks in the second season. They get a lot of random people to star in the Fargo TV seasons. I guess I'm going. I'm going to assume that the first season is basically just a rehash of the the movie, because from what I saw of trailers for the TV show, Martin Freeman did have that Minnesota and accent going on. So yeah, I, but again, no, I have not seen it, but we thought it was funny, we thought it was quotable. Do we think that it deserves to be on this list, higher than some of the other movies that we've got? We've given like sixes too, like is it actually a good movie?
Speaker 3:well, you know me, this is my genre, so maybe a little bias, but gosh, I love a comedy, um, and I I do think the acting was great and the storyline was compelling, like you're curious what's gonna happen the whole time. The violence was compelling, like you're curious what's going to happen the whole time. The violence was definitely there. And the crassness there's a moment where you are watching the two bad guys like sleeping with prostitutes, so like obviously I'm not a fan of that, but it it wasn't nudity I mean. So in some ways, you know, you're like this was better than the big Lebowski.
Speaker 2:I'm it was nudity. It was nudity, it was okay. It was like a two second. It was really short and I guess I had more context than random naked women jumping in slow motion like the Big Lebowski. So this movie again, it does go in a more linear storyline. Everything, quote, unquote, makes sense in the context of what's going on and so for that I give it a high. I'm going to give it a higher rating than the Big Lebowski. But is it a good movie? And so you think it's a good movie?
Speaker 3:I thought I would suggest to people to watch it. Yeah, honestly, I would say, hey, fargo was good, it was worth watching, it's fun and funny. But I have to admit what they did by saying this is based on true events, actually took away from it. Like if you had just not said that at all, I'd be fine. But when you said that, then I look it up and it's not true. Now I, like, respect the movie less and I think the storyline was good. I've got lots of positives. Right, it was, it was funny, it was kept captivating, acting great.
Speaker 3:But although there's a storyline, I felt like the ending just sort of abrupt. So you know, you catch the bad guy and that's the end, which, on the other hand, I think it's part of their clever humor. They're just like it ends with Marge the police officer just sitting in bed next to her kind of doofus husband who's just like kind of hanging out all day. I think he's an artist and he's talking about how his artwork made it onto a stamp and she's like oh yeah, it's great, honey, I think. I think the whole bit is that she's this legit police officer and he's just like sitting around and fishing all day and I.
Speaker 2:I would agree that this is better than big lebowski. I don't know if I would necessarily recommend it. I think most people that I know have probably already seen it and they're probably shocked that I hadn't seen it, because it's one of those staples in cinema, I guess, for some people, and it does surprise me. I looked up a top five, top 10 Coen Brothers list of movies. This one was number one. Big Lebowski was number three.
Speaker 2:I think they also directed no country for old men, which is a completely like offset of this. Now I will say I believe it was just one of the coen brothers that directed that. And then they also did, uh, true grit, the remake of true grit. So they do know how to make you know other genres and other types of movies that aren't exactly random like the big lebowski and have more linear storylines than fargo does. But I think my biggest like was the comedy, was the accents and all that kind of stuff. My biggest dislike was, just like with the big Lebowski, was the language and the unnecessary content, even though I did say in the context of the movie it makes sense, but at the same time it still didn't need to be there In my opinion if I watched this movie when it first came out, I think the wood chipper where they he puts his the other guy in the wood chipper would have hit differently.
Speaker 3:But I feel like now is it kingsman, that's super violent. There's some like over the top violence kind of silly violence movies I've seen now. So the wood chipper scene actually wasn't that big of a deal. My neighbor was like, oh, just wait till the end. But I was like I don't know, like it was weird and crazy and funny. But again it wasn't just like the shock value that I bet I would have gotten if I watched this like whatever 20 years ago.
Speaker 2:Well, I was expecting to actually see him, like put him in it, but when she walks up he's already like basically done with the body, is there's just a foot. So I guess it's me and my. You know, I'm a Saw fan, so that kind of stuff doesn't really get me either. But I thought because you know that's, one of the biggest things about this movie is that people, ooh, the wood chipper scene, the wood chipper scene. Ooh, there's a wood chipper scene. And then you watch it it's kind of like, okay, that was kind of anticlimactic and morbidly disappointing, so I was expecting a little bit more from that wood chipper I think I have one more negative too.
Speaker 3:I'm just now speaking of the wood chipper scene. Right before you get there, you realize I've made it right. After you realize that the wife dies. I did not like that. So like there's no redemption. The guy who puts his wife up to get kidnapped to make money, his father-in-law dies, which is just sad because he's not a bad guy, he's just like he's caught up in the wrong thing, trying to save his daughter. He dies. Then you have these like this innocent family that drives by, they die, and then the wife dies. Like I just could not believe they had her die. So then you think maybe it's just me as a parent. You're like wait. So the guy that set all this up is now in prison. Like they caught him. He's going to be in prison for the rest of his life and then the wife's dead. So and they have like a teenage son. Like what's going to happen to him? His watching this kid.
Speaker 2:So I feel like it wasn't until much after the movie I was like, wait, that's way depressing. And maybe that's who martin freeman plays in the fargo tv show the sun. No, I'm kidding, he probably doesn't probably. Um, yeah, it was good yeah, I mean, I wouldn't say it was good. It was better than big lebowski, which isn't saying much.
Speaker 3:That's what I would say I think it was good again. That's because I like comedy. So even though it's dark comedy, I like it, and I would. This fits in the category that I don't feel like. A lot of movies have recently we've been watching. This is one I would say oh, if you've never seen it, you should see it okay, but I like comedy too.
Speaker 2:You're. You're making it sound like I only like drama stuff and I don't like anything funny. I do like comedy. I don't like unnecessary content because to me that does not make it funny, it makes it a drawback to me. So that's why I don't enjoy it as much, even though I am a fan of the Saul movies. But those aren't comedies, those are horror movies and so anyway, yeah, but I do like comedies. Ok, just because I didn't like this one doesn't mean I don't like comedies, katie.
Speaker 3:See, that's just surprising because you're so not funny, so I just wouldn't expect you to like comedies well, before we rate this thing, I do want to throw out a fan mail question.
Speaker 2:So if you're listening to the show and you want to answer this question, there's a link in the show description show notes, whatever you want to call them and it says send us a text. So I'm going to ask you a question and you can send us a text and we will give your answer on our next episode. So here is the question if you are a Coen Brothers fan or you know of the Coen Brothers films, what would you say is your favorite Coen Brothers film? We've watched the Big Lebowski, we've watched Fargo. I'm pretty sure I think we're going to watch no Country for Old Men. So we'll have movies to choose from. But we'd like to hear from you, our listeners, what is your go-to Coen brothers film. And we will talk about that in the next episode in our fan mail section.
Speaker 3:So let's go ahead and rate Fargo, katie what would you give Fargo one through six stars? As you know, I rank usually for entertainment, not necessarily always some deep meaning, or I'm gonna think about that a lot across the next years of my life. So I'm actually gonna make a pretty high out of 5.5 because, again, I probably can't give it a six because, yeah, I didn't love the ending wow, that's.
Speaker 2:That's a lot higher than I thought you would have given it, just because the content. You and I usually agree on content stuff for the most part. So I'm going to give Fargo a 4.5 out of 6, which is actually still pretty good. I wanted to give it higher than Big Lebowski because I thought that was a terrible movie, but I still gave it a 3.5. I don't know why I gave it so high, but that is Fargo everybody. That is our last movie of june and it's my daughter's birthday today. So happy birthday, anna. I love you so much happy birthday, anna.
Speaker 2:Sorry, I didn't get you anything she wasn't expecting much from you, so let's get right into july and let's give you a ear peek of what we're going to be listening to, our first movie of july. Take a listen. The bronze bull, the raging bull, let's hear for the great jake lamotta.
Speaker 1:Ladies and gentlemen, I'm the best. I can take it more than anybody.
Speaker 3:You're dead, you're married. Take the young girls from me.
Speaker 1:There's no way I'm going down. I don't go down for nobody. Listen with him. Why does he have to make it so hard on himself?
Speaker 3:If you beat Trigger Ray, you'll get a shot at the title. You feel that way.
Speaker 1:There's no one else around who wants to fight me. They're all afraid. There's a lot of bad things. Joey, Maybe it's coming back to me. ©. Bf-watch TV 2021.
Speaker 2:We're going to be watching Robert De Niro when he was in his prime Raging Bull, so you can check out how you can watch it with us. Before we talk about it. We're going to put that on our social media, so follow us on Facebook. Nadie and Katie at the movies. We're on X again Nadie and Katie pod, I believe is the X and Instagram Nadie and Katie at the movies. Follow us so you can follow along with us. Katie, since you're better at the accent than me, do you have a quote for today's episode?
Speaker 3:Oh, I think I do, but I'm just not sure I agree with you 100% on your police work there, Lou.
Speaker 2:Thanks for listening to Nadie and Katie at the Movies. Feel free to send us some fan mail by hitting the. Send us a text link in the show notes. Leave us a review so people can find the show and follow us on all our social media platforms. Thanks for listening and have a great day.
