← Apex Mountain

Fargo

1996 · directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen · 98 min
26,990 feet · Prominence
96th of 24,106 films scored
The Rewatchables‘Fargo’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Kyle Brandt →

How this film scores

Draw57

Lifetime worldwide gross $61m, re-releases included; about $127m in 2026 money.

Rank2,456 of 11,051In 199638 of 191

How Draw works

Inflation-adjusted worldwide box office, on one global curve, and nothing else. It does not know whether a film was good.

Praise95

Awards claim half the headroom above the critics' score.

Critics92 baseAwards93 signal → +4 lift

Oscars2 won Actress, Original Screenplay5 nominated Picture, Director, Supporting Actor, Cinematography, Film Editing
Golden Globes4 nominated Motion Picture, Director, Lead acting, Screenplay
BAFTAs1 won Direction5 nominated Film, Lead acting, Original Screenplay, Editing, Craft and other
How Praise works

Critics set the score; a tiered award record, Picture and Directing carrying the most weight, claims half the headroom above it. Praise is the verdict at the time; Legacy is the verdict since.

Legacy83

Judged directly: Iconic accents, spawned hit series.

Verdict83 of 100IMDb8.1 from 781kWikipedia94k views a monthAge30 years

On the listsNational Film RegistryAFI 100evidence, not an input to the score
Scored beside it · 84 of 4,039 films judged

If it does not belong in this company, the number is wrong.

How Legacy works

Legacy is a judgment, not a formula. A film can be adored by critics and culturally quiet, or lightly reviewed and permanently lodged in the culture, and no arithmetic over IMDb numbers tells the difference. Every signal behind it keeps updating.

draw 57 praise 95 legacy 83averages 78, placing it at26,990 ft
How the three become one number

Added, not multiplied, so a film transcendent on one pillar and weak on another is not zeroed out. A compression curve then squeezes the top, because the seven greatest films ever made should not be four thousand feet apart.

Whose apex this is

▲ William H. Macy

In these careers — elevation for this film

Frances McDormand20,474 ftWilliam H. Macy20,474 ftSteve Buscemi19,437 ftPeter Stormare18,527 ftJohn Carroll Lynch17,879 ft