Will Bishop

I liked this movie's style of black comedy, but what really stood out to me was its similarity to the 1996 Coen Brothers film Fargo. Warning: this review will explain the similarities and differences between the characters in Maggie Moore(s) and Fargo, including spoilers for both movies. Jay Moore corresponds to Fargo's Jerry Lundegaard. Both are shady businessmen who fall on financial hard times. Both commit fraud to cover up their money problems, then hire hitmen to kidnap their own wives. Their motivations are different: Jerry wants to extract a ransom, while Jay wants to stop his wife from going to the police. Both wives ultimately end up murdered by their kidnappers. In short, both men have the same extremely low moral character and disregard for life. Michael Kosco corresponds to Gaear Grimsrud. Both are hardened criminals who are physically imposing, speak few words, and kill remorselessly. They kill their victims despite only being hired to kidnap, and they kill any witnesses to their actions, including law enforcement. Jordan Sanders corresponds to Marge Gunderson. Both are police chiefs who take the lead role in investigating the kidnappings and murders. Although their roles in the story are similar, their personalities are different: Marge is a cheerful character, while Sanders is brooding and taciturn after the death of his wife. Tommy T corresponds to Shep Proudfoot. Both are coworkers of the shady businessmen (Jay and Jerry) who introduce them to the kidnappers, setting the events in motion. Tommy has a more active role than Shep, as he and Jay are facilitate each other's criminal activities, while Shep doesn't really do anything other than set up Jerry's meeting with Grimsrud. Following the pattern, Maggie Moore #1 (Jay's wife) corresponds to Jean Lundegaard (Jerry's wife); both are killed by kidnappers hired by their husbands. But while Jean is ignorant of her husband's criminal activity, Maggie finds out and threatens to go to the police. Similarly, Rita Grace (Chief Sanders's love interest) could correspond to Norm Gunderson (Marge's husband), but they're not very similar. Rita helps Sanders with the investigation and, at the end of the movie, plays a role more similar to Marge herself as she takes down the killer. Norm plays a supportive role, not directly helping with the case. There are also some characters who don't neatly pair up. The "Maggie #2" subplot doesn't have an analogue in Fargo, so the characters central to that story (Maggie #2, Andy, Duane, Cassie) don't really correspond to anyone. And some characters in Fargo don't have an equivalent in Maggie Moore(s) - notably Carl Showalter (Grimsrud's accomplice) and Wade Gustafson (Jerry's father-in-law).

I loved Honor as a character, her ambition and how she tries to be manipulative but ends up helping people because of her good nature. Mr. Calvin was creepy but played well by good old McLovin. I thought the ending with Michael could have gone differently. He and Honor were both using each other, and they could have both realized what they did was wrong and reconciled as friends, if not as a couple. But Michael just ends up as the villain, even though what he did isn't all that different from what the protagonist did. Maybe I am just a sucker for the old-fashioned ending where the girl gets the guy, but I thought that was a missed opportunity.

The farcical premise belying characters who are timeless, funny, and relatable. The Shakespeare references in an adaptation of Shakespeare. The great music. And the rom-com trope of love conquering misunderstanding and hurt. I don't hate this movie, not even close, not even a little bit, not at all!