Minnesota car salesman Jerry Lundegaard's inept crime falls apart due to his and his henchmen's bungling and the persistent police work of the quite pregnant Marge Gunderson.
Jerry works in his father-in-law's car dealership and has gotten himself in financial problems. He tries various schemes to come up with money needed for a reason that is never really explained. It has to be assumed that his huge embezzlement of money from the dealership is about to be discovered by father-in-law. When all else falls through, plans he set in motion earlier for two men to kidnap his wife for ransom to be paid by her wealthy father (who doesn't seem to have the time of day for son-in-law). From the moment of the kidnapping, things go wrong and what was supposed to be a non-violent affair turns bloody with more blood added by the minute. Jerry is upset at the bloodshed, which turns loose a pregnant sheriff from Brainerd, MN who is tenacious in attempting to solve the three murders in her jurisdiction.—Anonymous
Jerry Lundegard is in an unknown financial jam and wants his father-in-law's money to solve it. His plan to get the money involves hiring Carl Showalter and Gaer Grimsrud to kidnap his wife, and then splitting the ransom with the criminals. However, this quickly falls apart after three killings and the persistent work of chirpy but efficient police chief, the pregnant Marge Gunderson.
A car salesman in Minneapolis, MN, Jerry Lundegard hires two criminals to kidnap his wife. Her father is wealthy and Jerry needs the money. However, things don't go according to plan and soon three people are dead outside of Brainerd, MN. The 7-month pregnant Sheriff of Brainerd, Marge Gunderson is soon on the case, and she is very intuitive and resourceful.—grantss
Jerry Lundegaard is in a financial jam and, out of desperation, comes up with a plan to hire someone to kidnap his wife and demand ransom from her wealthy father, to be secretly split between Jerry and the perpetrators. Jerry, who is not the most astute of individuals, hires a couple of real losers from the frozen northern reaches of Fargo, North Dakota for the job. Then things begin to slip from bad to worse as Jerry helplessly watches on.—Tad Dibbern <[email protected]>
In the winter of 1987, Minneapolis automobile salesman Jerry Lundegaard (William Macy) is in financial trouble. The dealership is owned by his wealthy father-in-law, Wade Gustafson. Jerry has embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from the dealership.GMAC has been threatening to withdraw loans for cars at the dealership Jerry manages after accounting irregularities. Basically, they suspect that Jerry has been borrowing money against cars that he hasn't sold or don't even exist, as their serial numbers are not clearly visible on the applications.
To solve his financial woes, Jerry concocts a plan to have his own wife Jean kidnapped, intending to extort a hefty ransom from Wade.Jerry is introduced to criminal Gaear Grimsrud (Peter Stormare) by Native American ex-convict Shep Proudfoot (Steve Reevis), a mechanic at his dealership, Shep is a convicted felon currently on parole from Stillwater Correctional Facility.
Jerry travels to Fargo, North Dakota, and hires the two men to kidnap his wife Jean (Kristin Rudrud). Unbeknownst to Shep, Gaear arrives in Fargo accompanied by fellow criminal Carl Showalter (Steve Buscemi), who berates Jerry for showing up an hour late. Carl and Gaear express skepticism and bewilderment at Jerry's scheme but ultimately agree to the kidnapping in exchange for a new Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera and a $40,000 cut of the alleged $80,000 ransom.However, Jerry intends to demand a much larger sum from his wealthy father-in-law, Wade Gustafson (Harve Presnell), and keep most of the money for himself.
Jerry has been trying to raise money by promoting a real estate deal (involving a 40 acres parking lot in Wayzata) to Wade. Stan Grossman (Larry Brandenburg) is an executive working for Wade, and whets all of his investment deals. Jerry tries to call off the kidnapping after Wade agrees to the investment (with a loan of $750,000), but he is too late as Shep did not have any alternate contact details for Gaear.As it turns out, Wade intends to buy the property himself, giving Jerry only a finder's fee, which is not enough to pay off his debts.
On their way to Minneapolis, Carl and Gaear had stopped in Brainerd and had sex with 2 prostitutes.Carl and Gaear kidnap Jean from her house, but on their way through Brainerd, a Minnesota State Patrol officer stops them because of the car's license plates (the car was brand new, and Carl had not installed the temporary license plates).When Carl's attempt to bribe the trooper fails, Gaear kills the trooper. As Carl is moving the trooper's body off the road, he is seen by a couple passing by in their car. Gaear chases the couple, who lose control of their car and swerve off the road, enabling Gaear to kill them.
The deaths are investigated by local police chief Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand), who is seven months pregnant. She correctly deduces that the dead trooper was ticketing a car with dealer plates. She later learns that two men driving a dealership vehicle checked into a nearby motel (the Blue Ox) with two call girls and placed a call to Shep. After questioning the girls (and learning that the 2 men were headed to the Twin Cities), Marge visits Wade's dealership (just wanting to understand if any new car with dealer plates has been reported missing recently), where Shep feigns ignorance and Jerry nervously insists no cars are missing. While in Minneapolis, Marge reconnects with Mike Yanagita (Steve Park), a high school classmate. Mike awkwardly tries to romance her before breaking down and telling her his wife has died.
In light of the three murders, Carl demands Jerry hand over the entire $80,000. Jerry tells Wade the kidnappers have demanded $1 million. Jerry contacts Wade, saying that the kidnappers insist on dealing only with Jerry.Wade accepts this arrangement at first, but later changes his mind. Shep finds Carl with a call girl in a Minneapolis hotel room and attacks him for bringing Shep to the attention of the police. Carl angrily calls Jerry and demands that he bring the money immediately. Wade insists on delivering the ransom himself and meets Carl at a parking garage.
When he meets with Carl at a parking garage, he refuses to give him the money until his daughter is returned. Angered by his demands and unexpected appearance, Carl shoots Wade. Before he dies, Wade shoots Carl in the face. Carl then kills the garage attendant on his way out. Jerry arrives at the scene just after Carl leaves. Later, Carl discovers that the bag he took from Wade contains a million dollars and buries most of the money (after taking out the $80,000 due to them) by the side of the highway.
Marge then learns from a friend that Yanagita lied; he has no wife and is mentally ill. Reflecting on this, Marge returns to Wade's dealership. An agitated Jerry again insists no cars are missing and tells Marge he will double-check the inventory. Marge sees Jerry driving off the lot and calls the state police.
At the cabin, Carl finds that Gaear killed Jean because she would not be quiet. Carl says they should split up and leave immediately, and they argue over who will keep the Cierra. Carl uses his injury as justification, insults Gaear, and attempts to leave with the car, but Gaear kills Carl with an ax.
Marge drives to Moose Lake, tipped off by a local bartender who overheard a customer brag about killing someone. She sees the Ciera, then discovers Gaear feeding Carl's body into a wood-chipper. Gaear attempts to flee, but Marge shoots him in the leg and arrests him. Shortly after, Jerry is arrested at a motel outside Bismarck, North Dakota.
Marge's husband Norm (John Carroll Lynch) tells her the Postal Service has selected his painting of a mallard for a three-cent postage stamp and is dejected that his friend's painting won the competition for a twenty-nine cent stamp. Marge reminds him that smaller denomination stamps get used to make up the difference between the face value of old stamps and the new cost of first-class postage. Norm is reassured, and the couple happily anticipates the birth of their child.
