Category Archives: Reviews

This Is A True Story: Fargo Season IV Recap/Review


This is a true story. The events depicted occurred in Hollywood in 2020. At the request of Accuracy, the names have not been changed. Out of respect for the Truth, the rest has been told exactly as it occurred. And lots of spoilers.

Perhaps the past really is prologue. By almost every metric, Fargo‘s fourth season, which concluded Sunday night, got the show back on track.

After two brilliant seasons and some unattainable expectations, the third installment of the anthology series felt like an inevitable disappointment last year. Critic response was lukewarm, and audience reaction lacked the fanboy frenzy of most Coen Bros. projects.

So the rebound isn’t wholly unexpected, and the fourth series still pales in comparison to its two prodigious predecessors. Still, the latest iteration suggests that Fargo the TV series may be up to something as brilliant as Fargo the taproot film. Namely, that creator Noah Hawley may be slyly piecing together stories of a single book whose chapters have been placed out of order.

That possibility became clearer with a Season 4 finale, Storia Americana, that is actually a prequel hand-off from Season 2, arguably the best season in the series this far.

And the newest season raised the tantalizing possibility that Hawley is making an adaptation of the fictional anthology The History of True Crime in the Mid West, a book that plays a noticeable role this season and in Season 2. Could all four tales be part of a single story?

Album) The History of True Crime in the Midwest : FargoTV
The fictional book that’s appeared in two seasons.

After all, Hawley employed a similar crossover between Seasons 1 and 3: the deaf hitman Mr. Wrench. Distributing network FX has taken pains to make it clear: Each season is a standalone creature.

But could the next chapter (television gods willing) of Fargo reveal a larger tale? The Coens (who serve as executive producers) are nothing if not fond of layered stories. And Hawley appears untethered by network constraints to tell a quirky tale (this season ran 11 episodes instead of 10, and episodes routinely ran longer than an hour).

Why Is Mr. Wrench Helping Nikki On 'Fargo'? The Hitman's Motivations Are Fuzzy
Mr. Wrench in a crossover role.

All of which begs the question: Is Hawley creating a larger “true crime” story in an homage to the brothers, gift-wrapped with Coen-like chronology leaps?

Season 4 is set in Kansas City, a key location in Season 2, and serves to document the formative years of rising crime syndicate boss Mike Milligan.

Other season-jumping Easter eggs this year: Joe Bulo, who is Milligan’s boss in Season 2, is a young thug who learns firsthand that the family crime business is dying; Mort Kellerman, the K.C. crime boss killed in Season 2, delivers an assassination of his own this year; and this season’s protagonist, Loy Cannon (Chris Rock), drops a Milligan quote in assessing how locals treat outsiders: “Pretty unfriendly, actually.”

Above: Joe Bulo, left, gets lessons in thuggery.
Below, Mort Kellerman, right, delivers on.

It’s those inside jokes that underpin the series, which is, ultimately, a collection of Coen Brother tribute videos. Season 4 had plenty of discography nods, including No Country for Old Men, Raising Arizona and, in particular, Miller’s Crossing.

Gabriel Byrne in Miller’s Crossing, left, Chris Rock in Season 4, right.

The young Milligan is a boy named Satchel Cannon (Rodney L. Jones III). He’s haloed by a clipped-wing nightingale known only as Rabbi Milligan (a terrific Ben Whimshaw). The poetic pairing of outcasts would merit a future name change to whatever you damn well please.

This FARGO Theory Spells Doom for Loy - Nerdist
Satchel and Rabbi, left. Mike Milligan, right.

As usual, Hawley peppers each season with film-school level references to the Coen Brothers. He treats the duo with Kubrickian reverence, and the result is near-film-quality adoration. A “bad” Fargo episode is better than most shows’ best day.

And this season had plenty of good days, including the entire Wizard of Oz tribute episode East/West (no. 9) and the recurring ghost of Theodore Roach, the gnarled demon of slave ships past who haunted this season’s darkest scenes.

The show had a few missteps: There were a few too many characters to keep track of this time around, and the story made logic leaps previous seasons wouldn’t have attempted.

But the season finale, which ended on a beautiful surprise post-credit scene, brought the show so far back (or forward?) in its origins story it’s hard to think a larger tale isn’t unfolding.

And considering Hawley and company pulled this season off in the middle of a pandemic — when we most needed thoughtful, scripted television — it really doesn’t matter whether Fargo is a true story or not. As long as it’s a continuing one.

The Genius of ‘Chicago 7,’ Despite Its Genius

The Trial of the Chicago 7' Review: They Fought the Law - The New York Times

Like David Mamet, Aaron Sorkin is less a screenwriter than a songwriter. Sure, Goo goo j’goob doesn’t make a lick of sense, but its got a great beat.

So, too, does The Trial of the Chicago 7, Netflix’s latest pandemic entrée. Granted, our time in isolation has made us more welcoming than ever to visitors. And Sorkin, the mind behind The West Wing, has yet to see a trope he won’t hit on.

But the movie connects despite some sizable flaws, perhaps because of its underpinning message and unmistakable parallels between the politics of a half-century ago and today.

The film is based on the 1969 federal trial of seven men accused of inciting a riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

The film has taken its lumps for making the trial too theatrical. Rolling Stone railed, “The Trial of the Chicago 7 feels outright outlandish at times.”

Note to Rolling Stone: Look up the real trial. Defendant Bobby Seale really was bound and gagged at the trial. And unlike the film, which showed Seale as literal hostage once, the order stood for several days. A defense attorney stated, for the record, “This is no longer a court of order, Your Honor, this is a medieval torture chamber.”

The Trial of the Chicago 7 True Story: What The Movie Changes
The real Bobby Seale, left, in a courtroom sketch.

No, the flaws of Chicago 7 are about storytelling. The trial was such a circus, the film needs less dramatic flare, more documentarian finesse. In a throwaway scene apparently meant to peacock, one defendant asks another if he knows what’s going on as lawyers huddle. “I haven’t known what’s been going on for years,” the other replies with a poignant sigh.

In another, a defendant says he is keeping a list of soldiers who died in Vietnam during the case, noting that “with the trial starting, it might get easy to forget who this is about.” He later hands the list to Tom Hayden (a terrific Eddie Redmayne), whose final words to the court are to read the casualty list.

Too bad the speech — and list — are pure fiction.

And while chameleon star Sacha Baron Cohen bears a strong resemblance to Abbie Hoffman, the Brit simply can’t get beyond a “pahk the cah” Northeastern accent, and it weaves like a drunk driver on a two-lane highway.

Abbie Hoffman and Sacha Baron Cohen
Abbie Hoffman, left, and Sacha Baron Cohen

But it’s still worth the cost of admission, if only because it will nudge the occasional viewer to Wikipedia or YouTube for a remote-learning history lesson.

The film duly notes what became of the protesters, from Tom Hayden’s 5-term Senate run to Hoffman’s in 1989.

More importantly, Chicago 7 puts the upcoming presidential election into some much-needed context. As Sorkin does get spot on, the 60’s make these times look downright simple.

Back then, liberal voices got shot in the head for demanding to be heard.

In that sense, the election — like the sentiment of the Chicago 7, is already settled.

Deja Viewed: There Will Be Blood

There Will Be Blood | Jerusalem Cinematheque – Israel Film Archive

There Will Be Blood is ostensibly about real-life California oil tycoon Edward L. Doheny, and even includes the now-famous “I drink your milkshake!” quote, attributed to Doheny during Congressional investigations of the industry.

But on Deja-View, it sure seems like Blood director Paul Thomas Anderson is actually paying homage to Stanley Kubrick, particularly 2001: A Space Odyssey.

And if you really want to go Kubrickian, one could argue that Blood itself is a prequel to 2001. After all, 2001 documents the dawn of mankind. There Will Be Blood documents the dawn of American capitalism.

But we’ll get back to that. As for the first few minutes of Blood, it seems inarguable now that Thomas was paying homage to the 1968 movie:

  • Both movies begin in utter darkness to a rising musical score. 2001‘s intro is an extended blackout as Also Spake Zarathustra swells. Blood percolates to Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood’s original score.
  • Both first scenes are of desert mountains.
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  • Both have a “Moon Watcher” scene, as the huddled characters gaze into uncertain skies.
  • Both have pivotal scenes of clubbing.
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And it’s the clubbing scene that suggests the larger, loopier theme (of course, this is 2001, so what is loopy). Throughout Blood, we watch Plainview (played by the inimitable Daniel Day-Lewis) as he graduates from gold to oil as he perfects his weapon of choice.

The film, which uses its characters as avatars of American corruption, also tracks the corrosive effect capitalism has on religion (here embodied by Paul Dano). As both men find themselves growing in wealth and power, they also find themselves inevitably and inextricably at odds.

The frenetic finale even works as a handoff to the beginning of 2001. As Plainview sits over his opponent and offers the apocalyptic final line, “I’m finished!” viewers are left with their own metaphorical riddle: What happens when business and religion are in a war to the death?

Anyone’s guess, but it’s reasonable to expect a great leap forward — or back.