Though they had been building an impressive body of work before, Fargo was the film that cemented Joel and Ethan Coen as some of the greatest American filmmakers of all time. With the tongue-in-cheek assertion that it is based on a true story, the movie tells the story of a kidnapping gone wrong which leads to a wave of violence throughout a friendly and frigid midwestern community.
The movie’s mix of brutal violence and quirky humor made for a fascinating take on the crime genre and a tone many films have tried to duplicate. Though Fargo is a completely unique film, there are some great projects that have struck that same strange mix of murder and laughs. Here are some off-beat crime movies to watch if you like Fargo.
The Nice Guys (2016)
Shane Black was one of the most influential voices in the action movie genre in the 80s and 90s as a screenwriter to films like Lethal Weapon and The Last Boy Scout. When he decided to start making his own films, he proved to bring that same dark humor and subversive takes to the crime genre.
The Nice Guys stars Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe as two low-life men who reluctantly partner together to solve a missing person case. Both actors are hilarious in this violent retro mystery that keeps poking fun at this type of film while paying loving homage to it as well.
Snatch (2000)
Guy Ritchie has gone from low-budget British crime films to directing some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters. However, many fans prefer those early films that explored the underbelly of England’s crime world.
Snatch was Ritchie’s second film and followed multiple individuals living a life of crime who find their stories intersecting around a bare-knuckle boxer, a vicious dog and a missing diamond. It is a weird, wild and funny adventure with plenty of colorful characters that bring the story to life.
Bottle Rocket (1996)
Like the Coen Brothers, Wes Anderson is a filmmaker whose films have a very distinct feel to them. He started his impressive career with Bottle Rocket, a crime-comedy infused with his particular voice and sense of humor.
Luke Wilson stars as Anthony, a man just out of a mental health facility who joins his best friend (Owen Wilson) on his quest to become a career criminal. However, their plans are thrown out the window when Anthony falls in love. It is an unusual and hilarious film about characters following their dream which happens to be a life of crime.
The Ice Harvest (2005)
There is something about the frozen landscape presented in Fargo that makes the story all the more interesting. The same can be said for The Ice Harvest, an underrated crime comedy from Harold Ramis which stars John Cusack and Billy Bob Thorton.
The story follows a mob lawyer (Cusack) who partners with a strip club owner (Thorton) to steal money from a dangerous gangster on Christmas Eve. With the holiday setting, the black humor and the sudden moments of violence, The Ice Harvest makes for an entertaining genre film worth seeking out.
Zodiac (2007)
David Fincher is the man behind such gruesome and dark films as Se7en. So when news came that he would be making a film based on the Zodiac Killer, many expected a grisly and grim film. While the scenes of the killings are brutal and unsettling, the movie focuses more on the people who dedicated years of their lives attempting to solve the crimes.
Zodiacfeatures a stellar cast, including Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., and Mark Ruffalo as the various people on the case. It also has an unexpected sense of humor that helps to make it a wonderfully strange tale based on the real-life and still unsolved murders.
Get Shorty (1995)
Elmore Leonard is one of the biggest names in crime literature and his novels have spawned some great adaptations. Perhaps the most fun film based on his work is Get Shorty, a quirky and hilarious crime story set in the fake world of Hollywood.
John Travolta gives one of his best performances as Chilli Palmer, a movie-loving gangster who gets caught up with some big-shot Hollywood people and decides to get into the movie-making business. The rest of the all-star cast all give pitch-perfect performances in the funny story about how everyone wants to be in show business.
The Guard (2011)
While Fargo is a distinctly American movie, the mix of humor and violence seems to translate well to any country. The Guard is a small Irish film that stars Brendan Gleeson as a lazy yet capable policeman who is reluctantly caught up in an international drug smuggling operation.
The grey and beautiful Irish scenery makes for an interesting setting and Gleeson is amazing as the blunt yet charming hero who has no interest in being a hero at all. Seeing him take a carefree approach to being in the middle of this crime story is a great take and the movie has some great action moments as well.
Bad Santa (2003)
Billy Bob Thorton makes another appearance on the list (but not his last) and, like The Ice Harvest, this is another Christmas-set crime-comedy. In Bad Santa, Thorton plays a thief who poses as a mall Santa Claus every year so he can then rob the place on Christmas Eve.
Thorton is perfect in the role of the worst Santa you’ve ever seen. This is certainly not a holiday movie for the whole family as it is full of foul language, vulgar humor, and nasty characters. There are also some surprisingly violent moments that give the crime aspect of the story some more excitement.
In Bruges (2008)
One of the most entertaining aspects of Fargo was the mismatched pair of Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare as the criminals responsible for much of the bloodshed in the story. That take on the unlikely criminal duo stuck together has been at the center of many films, including In Bruges.
Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson star as Irish hitmen who, after a job goes wrong, are ordered to hideout in Bruges, Belgium for a while. Their dysfunctional partnership provides a lot of laughs while the film also explores some dark and fascinating themes.
A Simple Plan (1998)
The Coen Brothers have collaborated with their friend and fellow filmmaker Sam Raimi in the past, and he seemed to take inspiration from Fargo when making his frigid crime film, A Simple Plan.
Set in a small rural town, Bill Paxton stars as a man who comes across a small plane crashed in the woods with a large bag of money inside. Along with his brother (Billy Bob Thorton), they make a plan for keeping the money for themselves. Like Fargo, it is a cautionary tale of normal people whose greed leads them down a dark and violent path.
