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Plot[edit]

In 1987, Minneapolis car salesman Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy) is desperate for money. Shep Proudfoot (Steve Reevis), an ex-convict, gives him a name; he travels to Fargo, North Dakota, where he hires Carl Showalter (Steve Buscemi) and Gaear Grimsrud (Peter Stormare) to kidnap his wife, Jean (Kristin Rudrüd), and ransom her for $80,000, knowing his wealthy father-in-law and boss, Wade Gustafson (Harve Presnell) will pay. In return, Lundegaard will give Showalter and Grimsrud a new 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera, and half of the ransom money.

Lundegaard gets phone calls from GMAC about an unpaid loan for sold vehicles from the dealership. These are non-existent, as he is scamming GMAC. He also tries to convince Gustafson to lend him $750,000 for a real estate deal. When Gustafson shows interest, Lundegaard tries to cancel the kidnapping, but too late: Showalter and Grimsrud are driving to Minneapolis. Lundegaard then discovers Gustafson will only give him a small finder's fee.

Showalter and Grimsrud arrive in Minneapolis and kidnap Lundegaard's wife. However, on the way to their cabin hideout, they are stopped by a state trooper outside Brainerd, Minnesota. Grimsrud shoots and kills the trooper, and then shoots and kills a couple who saw the incident. The next morning, local police chief, Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand), who is seven months pregnant, investigates the homicides. After being informed that the criminals telephoned Proudfoot from the truck stop, she drives to Minneapolis. While visiting Minneapolis, Marge reconnects with an old classmate, Mike Yanagita (Steve Park), who unsuccessfully tries to seduce her during dinner.

Lundegaard contacts Gustafson and his accountant Stan Grossman (Larry Brandenburg), who at first let only Lundegaard speak to the "kidnappers". Later Gustafson decides to deal with them himself. Showalter then tells Lundegaard he must give the criminals the entire $80,000 ransom.

Showalter phones Lundegaard, demanding he make the drop that night at a parking garage. However, Gustafson drives off with the ransom in his briefcase. At the drop, he refuses to hand it over until his daughter is returned. Showalter kills Gustafson, but not before being shot in the face. Lundegaard arrives at the shooting scene and puts the body in his trunk. The next day, Showalter discovers that the briefcase contains a million dollars (the amount that Lundegaard had told Gustafson was demanded). Showalter removes $80,000 to split with Grimsrud, and buries the rest in the snow alongside the highway. On returning to the hideout, Showalter discovers that Grimsrud has killed Lundegaard's wife. The two criminals argue over the car, and Grimsrud kills Showalter.

Marge Gunderson questions Lundegaard again, and asks to speak to Gustafson. Lundegaard flees the dealership, and Marge contacts the state police. Following up on a tip, Marge drives to Moose Lake and spots the stolen car. She finds Grimsrud feeding the last of Showalter's body into a wood chipper. He tries to escape, but Marge shoots him in the leg and arrests him. Driving back, a saddened Marge asks Grimsrud why he committed the crimes, telling him, "there's more to life than a little money, you know?" Later, Lundegaard's location is traced to a motel outside Bismarck, North Dakota, where he is subdued and arrested while attempting to escape through a bathroom window.

That night, Marge Gunderson and her husband, Norm (John Carroll Lynch), sit in bed together discussing Norm's mallard painting, which has been selected as the design for a US postage stamp. Norm is disappointed that it will appear only on the 3¢ stamp, but Marge is very proud of his achievement. The two hold each other close, and mention that their child will be born in two months' time.

Cast[edit]

• Frances McDormand as Marge Gunderson
• William H. Macy as Jerry Lundegaard
• Steve Buscemi as Carl Showalter
• Peter Stormare as Gaear Grimsrud
• Harve Presnell as Wade Gustafson
• Kristin Rudrüd as Jean Lundegaard
• Tony Denman as Scotty Lundegaard
• Gary Houston as Irate Customer
• Sally Wingert as Irate Customer's Wife
• Steve Reevis as Shep Proudfoot
• Warren Keith as Reilly Diefenbach (voice)
• Larry Brandenburg as Stan Grossman
• J. Todd Anderson as Victim in Field (credited as Prince)
• John Carroll Lynch as Norm Gunderson
• Bruce Bohne as Officer Lou
• Melissa Peterman as Hooker #2
• Steve Park as Mike Yanagita
• Cliff Rakerd as Officer Gary Olson
• José Feliciano as Himself
• Bain Boehlke as Mr. Mohra

Production[edit]

Factual basis[edit]

Fargo opens with the following text:

THIS IS A TRUE STORY. The events depicted in this film took place in Minnesota in 1987. At the request of the survivors, the names have been changed. Out of respect for the dead, the rest has been told exactly as it occurred.

And the end credits bear the standard "all persons fictitious" disclaimer for a work of fiction.^[7]

Although the film's plot is completely fictional, the Coen brothers claimed that the movie was based on a conglomeration of real criminal events. Joel Coen noted:

We weren't interested in that kind of fidelity. The basic events are the same as in the real case, but the characterizations are fully imagined ... If an audience believes that something's based on a real event, it gives you permission to do things they might otherwise not accept.^[8]

At first the Coens claimed the actual murders took place, just not in their home state of Minnesota.^[9] The Coens were born and raised in St. Louis Park, a suburb of Minneapolis.^[10] Some Minnesotans suspected that the case was based in part on that of T. Eugene Thompson; he hired a hit man, in 1963, to kill his wife and collect on her life insurance policy. However, Joel Coen stated in an interview at the time of Thompson's death in 2015 that the film's story is completely made up.^[11]

On the trivia track of the film's special edition DVD, it is revealed that the the movie was inspired by the infamous 1986 murder of Helle Crafts from Connecticut at the hands of her husband, Richard, who disposed of her body through a wood chipper.^[12]