Necrotongue

I liked the film years ago and I still do as I found out today. An enlightening film about how a barely noticeable and almost harmless scam can turn into a brutal, bloody madness, and how a total pushover can stand behind a series of deadly coincidences. The creators interestingly alternated moments of almost complete standstill with absurd outbursts of violence, and I had a great time all along. I think the casting of Peter Stormare was a perfect move, he’s excellent at playing all kinds of psychopaths and sociopaths.

I wasn't expecting this film to be anything special, and it wasn’t, but I had fun. The cast was great, except for Jack Black of course, I’m not a huge fan of his. Those who stood out in particular were Robert Downey Jr. as Kirk Lazarus/Sgt. Osiris and surprisingly Tom Cruise, whose hairy Les Grossman with lumberjack arms was probably the funniest role I've ever seen Cruise play. The story had momentum, it was funny, which isn’t a given with comedies, and there were plenty of one-liners, so I have nothing to complain about.

I really enjoyed the first season of Fargo. Oddly enough, I didn't mind it when there was almost zero plot sometimes, unless it came right after an action-packed episode. The entire first season was dominated by Billy Bob Thornton and Martin Freeman, followed at some distance by Colin Hanks. I'm a little sorry that Keith Carradine’s character didn't get more screen time. Otherwise, I was very happy with the first season and had a good time.

I didn't even think that the creators could come up with a weak ending, so I wasn't surprised by its quality, rather I received exactly what I expected. A fantastic ending to the first season with a perfectly tuned atmosphere, full of tension and gripping action.

After the breath-catching eighth part came the action-packed ninth episode with an absolutely gripping plot, and as a bonus, Lorne Malvo added one of his seemingly harmless tricks. It seems that Lester has completed his transformation into a repulsive monster with his cold-blooded decision at the end. The character development of Martin Freeman is among the best I have seen in television series.

After the previous great episode, there was a slight disappointment that the slow pace returned and there was practically no development, unless I count the subtitle: "one year later," and the family changes of some characters. The story this time somehow stagnated, but I firmly believe in a great improvement.

The seventh episode belongs among those very successful ones. The change in Lester Nygaard's personality deepens, which could be attested by the widow of Mr. Hess and the effective actions of Lorne Malvo in Fargo hardly need a comment, it was great. The atmosphere, tension, and action were excellent, and the story gained a nice pace.

This time, I didn't think about anything else but full-on barrage. The lethargic pace of previous episodes was replaced by an action-packed rampage in the sixth episode and the transformation of Lester from a gray mouse into a cool-minded manipulator. As if that wasn't enough, Lorne Malvo prepared a great decoy to distract attention and met with both gentlemen from Fargo, which was quite entertaining.

After the story of how Lester got the shotgun, the plot of the fifth episode was also dragging a little for me. Basically, everything was going as usual, but I had a feeling that this time I was missing some sort of a spark that would serve as a small revival. Without it, this episode felt slightly dull to me.

I really liked the pre-subtitle matters that explain parts of the story that precede the current plot. The plot of the fourth episode again proceeded very slowly, but it was greatly enlivened by the arrest of Lorne Malvo and the interesting experiences of Lester Nygaard. Mr. Numbers and Mr. Wrench did not disappoint me and I find them very entertaining.