Fargo
In the winter of 1987, Jerry Lundegaard, the sales manager at a Minneapolis Oldsmobile dealership, is desperate for money. He floated a $320,000 GMAC loan and collateralized it with nonexistent dealership vehicles; GMAC is asking questions. Dealership mechanic and paroled ex-convict Shep Proudfoot refers Jerry to Gaear Grimsrud. Jerry travels to Fargo, North Dakota, towing a new car from his dealership, and hires Gaear and Carl Showalter to kidnap his wife, Jean, and extort a ransom from his wealthy father-in-law and boss, Wade Gustafson, in return for the dealership car and half of the $80,000 ransom.
Jerry pitches Gustafson a lucrative real estate deal, and he agrees to front $750,000. Jerry considers calling off the kidnapping, then learns that Gustafson plans to make the deal himself, giving Jerry a finder's fee. At Jerry's home, Carl and Gaear carry out the kidnapping. As they transport Jean to their remote cabin on Moose Lake, a state trooper pulls them over outside Brainerd for driving without temporary tags. When the trooper hears a sound from the back seat, Gaear kills him, then chases down two eyewitnesses and kills them.
The following morning, Brainerd police chief Marge Gunderson discovers that the dead trooper was ticketing a car with dealership plates. Later, two men driving a dealership vehicle checked into the nearby Blue Ox Motel with two call girls, then placed a call to Proudfoot. After questioning the prostitutes, she drives to Gustafson's dealership, where Proudfoot feigns ignorance and Jerry insists no cars are missing from his inventory. While in Minneapolis, Marge reconnects with Mike Yanagita, an old classmate who tells her that his wife, another classmate, has died, and makes an awkward pass at her.
Jerry informs Gustafson that the kidnappers have demanded $1 million, and will deal only through him. Meanwhile, Carl, in light of the complication of three murders, demands that Jerry hand over the entire $80,000. GMAC gives Jerry 24 hours to prove the existence of the vehicles or return the loan.
Carl is attacked and beaten by a furious Proudfoot for involving him in the murder investigation. Carl orders Jerry to deliver the ransom immediately. Gustafson insists on making the money drop himself. At the prearranged drop point in a Minneapolis parking garage, he tells Carl he will not hand over the money without seeing Jean. An enraged Carl shoots and kills Gustafson. After fleeing the scene, Carl is astounded to discover that the briefcase contains $1 million. He removes $80,000 to split with Gaear, then buries the rest alongside the highway. At the cabin, Gaear has killed Jean; Carl says they must split up and leave the state immediately; but after a heated argument over who will keep the dealership car, Gaear kills Carl.
Marge learns that Yanagita's dead wife is not dead, nor his wife. Reflecting on Yanagita's convincing lies, Marge returns to Gustafson's dealership. Jerry continues to insist that he is not missing any cars. Marge asks him to inventory the lot, then spots him driving away from the dealership, and calls the State Police. The next morning, she drives to Moose Lake on a tip from a local bar owner who reported a "funny-looking guy" bragging about killing someone. Outside a cabin, she finds the dealership car; nearby, Gaear is feeding Carl's dismembered body into a wood chipper. Marge shoots him in the leg as he tries to flee and arrests him. North Dakota police arrest Jerry at a motel outside Bismarck.
Marge's husband Norm, whose mallard painting has been selected for a 3-cent postage stamp, complains that his friend's painting will be on the first class stamp. Marge reassures Norm that lots of people use 3-cent stamps; the two happily anticipate the birth of their child in two months.
violence, dark, murder