Fargo
Movie, 1996, The '90s, Set in Minnesota in winter
Fargo is #6 of 21 in release order and #6 of 21 in chronological order in the The Coen Brothers.
The story
Jerry Lundegaard is a small-town Minnesota car salesman deeply in debt and willing to do almost anything to get out. Police chief Marge Gunderson discovers a string of violent crimes as Jerry's schemes spiral out of control.
Fargo recap
Fargo (1996) follows a debt-ridden car salesman who has his wife kidnapped for ransom, and the pregnant police chief who unravels the scheme. Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy) hires two criminals, the talkative Carl Showalter (Steve Buscemi) and the silent Gaear Grimsrud (Peter Stormare), to snatch his wife Jean in 1987. When a state trooper stops them near Brainerd, Gaear kills him and two passing witnesses. Brainerd police chief Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand), seven months pregnant, follows the trail from the roadside to a motel and to Jerry's dealership. Jerry's father-in-law Wade Gustafson (Harve Presnell) insists on delivering the ransom himself. Joel and Ethan Coen wrote, produced and edited it. Their sixth feature, it follows The Hudsucker Proxy and won Oscars for McDormand and for its screenplay.
Fargo ending explained
Fargo ends with Marge arresting Gaear at the cabin and Jerry caught at a motel in North Dakota. Wade is killed at the ransom drop, and Carl buries most of the million dollars in the snow. At the cabin, Gaear has killed Jean and then kills Carl with an axe after an argument over the car. Marge finds him feeding Carl's body into a woodchipper and shoots him in the leg. At home she and her husband Norm talk about his duck painting going on a stamp and wait for their baby. The FX series Fargo, from 2014, borrows its setting and tone.
Post-credits scenes
No. Fargo has no mid- or post-credits scene.
Where to watch Fargo
Fargo is streaming on fuboTV, Philo, Kanopy, Hoopla, and MGM Plus in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 8.1/10, Rotten Tomatoes 95%
Where it fits
- Release order: after The Hudsucker Proxy, before The Big Lebowski.
- Chronological order: after The Hudsucker Proxy, before The Big Lebowski.
Cast
- 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
- John Carroll Lynch as Norm Gunderson
- Kristin Rudrüd as Jean Lundegaard
- Bruce Bohne as Lou
- Steve Reevis as Shep Proudfoot
- Steve Park as Mike Yanagita
- Gary Houston as Irate Customer
- Sally Wingert as Irate Customer's Wife
Directed by Joel Coen.