Fargo vs. Drop Dead Gorgeous, Pt 2

Well, well, well, here we are again, gathered ‘round the digital bonfire to compare how Minnesotan the movies Fargo and Drop Dead Gorgeous are based on Loons awarded at my every whim.

When last we met, in the category of main characters and the actors who played them, Fargo was awarded 24 Loons, and Drop Dead Gorgeous pulled into the lead with 29 Loons.

Now we must move on to the all-important supporting cast of characters. And folks, these films are both STACKED. This is going to be a tough round. Let’s get into it.

FARGO

• Jean Lundegaard, played by Kristin Rudrüd - First of all, Kristin is from Fargo and according to Wikipedia, still lives there! Unfortunately, as we discussed, Fargo is not in Minnesota. So -5 Loons. BUT, she went to Minnesota State University Moorhead, so +5 Loons. As Jean Lundegaard, the not-long-for-this-world wife to William H. Macy’s Jerry Lundegaard, Kristin brings the perfect, authentic, sing-song-y midwestern mom vibe. While I stand behind most of the accents in Fargo, Kristin’s is so obviously homegrown that it does really bring the room together like a nice hot dish. +6 Loons. Total of 6 Loons.

• Wade Gustafson, played by Harve Presnell - If Jean Lundegaard is the perfect ever-trusting wife of Jerry Lundegaard, Wade Gustafson is his perfect never-trusting father-in-law. He punches so many holes in Jerry’s ideas, that you could go ice fishing through them without the use of an auger. His stoic, pessimistic attitude is peak Minnesota grandpa. 6 Loons.

• The two sex workers interviewed by Marge Gunderson, played by Larissa Kokernot & Melissa Peterman. They are, for me, the MVPs of side characters. Their short scene, describing the night they spent with Gaear and Carl, is one of my absolute favorites. +5 Loons. And the internet tells me Larissa Kokernot also served as dialect coach for Frances McDormand. To this day these two characters have some of the most quotable lines in the whole movie. +4 Loons. Total of 9 Loons for these two absolute gems.

• Shep Proudfoot, played by Steve Reevis. Is Shep the most fleshed-out character? No. I would have loved to know more about Shep! But he’s integral to the plot and I always enjoy Steve Reevis popping up in any movie, he really sticks with you. -2 Loons for not giving him more to do. +8 Loons because he made the most of his screen time and Minnesotans just love to see people put the work in. 6 Loons total.

• Mike Yanagita, played by Steve Park. The Mike Yanagita scene is so fascinating. It feels like a tiny drama all its own. Mike as a character is both funny and sad, quirky and troubled. He brings such an odd energy to his meeting with Marge, and when it turns out that he’s lying about his life, it all feels rather unsettling. I could watch this scene over and over again and catch something different each time. This is one of those scenes that, as a screenwriter, foolish people would probably tell you to cut. But thank goodness they didn’t. 7 Loons.

• Norm Gunderson, played by John Carroll Lynch. Marge and Norm’s marriage remains one of my favorite examples of a truly loving daily relationship on screen. He makes sure she eats breakfast. She encourages him and sings his praises when his design gets on the three-cent stamp.

  “It’s just a three-cent stamp.”

  “It’s terrific.”

  “Hautman’s blue-winged teal got the 29-cent. People don’t much use the three-cent.”

  “Oh, for Pete's sake. Of course, they do. Whenever they raise the postage, people need the little stamps.”

  +6 Loons for love which is very useful in cold Minnesota weather. And John Carroll Lynch used to perform at The Guthrie in Minneapolis! +2 Loons.

  8 Loons total.

DROP DEAD GORGEOUS

• Loretta, played by Allison Janney - Right out of the DDG gate, we’re starting with one of my favorite performances in film history. Perfect casting. And this movie came out just two months before the premiere of a little program called The West Wing in which Janney played iconic press secretary C.J. Cregg. I wonder if TWW had come out before they cast DDG if they still would have had the good sense to make this perfect casting choice. But thankfully, she’s here, she’s chain-smoking, and she wants a ride to her trailer.

  “Can one of you boys gimme a ride home?”

  “Don’t fall for it. She lives two trailers down.”

  “So? Be real easy.”

  7 Loons

• Connie Rudrüd The Pork Products Lady (yes, that’s the character name on IMDB), played by Kristin Rudrüd — that’s right, Kristin Rudrüd appears in both Fargo and Drop Dead Gorgeous! Two Kristin Rudrüds are certainly better than one. In DDR, she plays a former Minnesota American Teen Princess turned spokesperson of pork products. Memorably, after a montage of pig-slaughtering and interior shots of a sausage factory, she bites snappily into a big ol’ stick of meat before donning a hard hat and white jumpsuit because, as she so happily puts it, “I just love St. Paul Pork Products! In fact, I love ‘em so much, I work here now!” — something I still say regularly. 8 Loons which is extra impressive considering I’m pretty sure that :43 scene is the only time we see her for the entire movie. But the character is about as Minnesotan as the inability of much of my hometown to pronounce “fajita” properly. I know, I worked the drive-thru in the heyday of McDonald’s chicken fajitas. Or…fa-jie-tas.

• Leslie Miller, played by Amy Adams — this was the big debut of Amy Adams on the world stage! Just imagining Sister James from Doubt shouting “GO MUSKIES!” or stroking a mini Washington Monument strapped to her head brings a tear to my eye. +4 Loons And, while not from Minnesota originally, she lived for a time in Chanhassen where she performed at the Chanhassen Dinner Theater! +2 Loons. 6 Loons total.

• Lisa Swenson, played by Brittany Murphy —this was very much NOT Brittany Murphy’s debut. By 1999, she already had an impressive list of credits to her name, including Clueless. But her goofy giggling and heroic costume sacrifice so our hero Amber could perform in the talent portion of the pageant will never be forgotten. 7 Loons.

• Hank Vilmes, played by Will Sasso — this character aged like a gallon of milk.

  -5 Loons.

• Chloris Klinghagen, played by Mary Gillis — now, I knew I could only include one more character to keep things fair. And it was a tough choice. I could easily have gone with Iris Clark (Gladys Leeman’s henchwoman), played by Mindy Sterling, or Mary Johanson (former pageant queen hospitalized for an eating disorder), played by Alexandra Holden. But I didn’t! Instead, I went with one of my personal favorites. Chloris Klinghagen is the grouchy, chainsmoking (half the characters in this movie are chainsmoking), always-with-a-fan-in-hand choreographer tasked with getting the girls ready to strut their stuff. I mean, look at this photo:

Enough said. 6 Loons.

Fargo: 42 Loons

Drop Dead Gorgeous: 29 Loons

Unfortunately, Hank Vilmes really brought down DDR’s score! Don’t look at me, I don’t make the rules. (I make all the rules.)

This leaves us with…

Fargo: 66 Loons

Drop Dead Gorgeous: 58 Loons

After a tough first-round loss by Fargo, it has now pulled into the lead! Can Drop Dead Gorgeous come back from this shocking loss? We’ll see next time when we compare the scripts of both films. Just how Minnesotan is the writing? Stay tuned!

Think I got it wrong? Let’s hear it!