Minneapolis, Minnesota. The largest city in the state of Minnesota, Minneapolis and its neighbor city, St. Paul, form the state’s Twin Cities, which combined are the 13^th largest metropolitan area in the United States. The city of Minneapolis is home to several professional sports teams, including the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings, MLB’s Minnesota Twins, and the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves. Minneapolis is also home to the University of Minnesota, which had the fourth largest main campus student body in the United States for the 2008-2009 school year. Edward Coen, father of Joel and Ethan, was an economics teacher at the university. In 2007, Minneapolis was named America’s most literate city.

Joel and Ethan Coen were raised in Saint Cloud, a small suburb of Minneapolis. Coming off the financial disaster The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), the Coens decided to shift their next film focus to their hometown with Fargo (1996). Although the film’s title refers to a city in North Dakota, the majority of the film takes place in Minneapolis and Brainerd. Minneapolis is the home of Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy), a car salesman who hires two men to kidnap his wife in exchange for half of the ransom money and a new car. As the plan disintegrates, three people are murdered and Brainerd police chief Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) follows the trail back to Minneapolis and Lundegaard’s car dealership. Eventually, Marge solves the murder case and arrests Lundegaard for his involvement in the murders.--Chris Richardson