MovieChat Forums > Fargo (1996) Discussion > Suppose Jerry's scheme had worked?

Suppose Jerry's scheme had worked?


Irrelevant, I know. It had no chance, really. But, on a recent viewing, I assumed Jerry's fraud was recent, not something that had taken place over years or months, otherwise the GMAC guy would have been on to him long before then. So Jerry's debt was also of recent origin. Gambling? Maybe. Doesn't matter.

It certainly confounds things, because I think Jerry's only recourse, had his plan worked, was to use the money to disappear. He can't just proceed with the parking lot deal because there's still the issue of the missing financed cars. His FIL isn't just going to forgive that. Is there any way he can use part of the money to make the embezzlement good? I don't see how. The cars he financed never existed. Even if he paid back the money that would mean a slightly lesser sentence. No way would the father let him off unprosecuted. Remember, he tells Jerry "Marge & [the son] never have to worry..." Jerry is most explicitly not included in that assurance.

But then if Jerry's planning to abscond from a life & family he doesn't appear to care particularly about, why get into trouble over the embezzlement? He could hope the old man would lend him the $750 thou for the deal (which I believed he never had any intention of going through), or take the proceeds from the kidnapping.

What was the $320 thousand for?

Obviously, we'll never know. Is Deckard really a replicant sort of thing.

I suppose the most plausible explanation is that Jerry got in over his head gambling, or some other unseen vice, then decided to skedaddle with either the parking lot investment or ransom payment.

Or maybe the writers didn't quite think it all the way through....

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I think the writers thought things through. It would be pretty easy to come up with a reason for Jerry's debt. A simple reference to gambling would've worked but they purposefully chose not to reveal it. Not knowing the origin of Jerry's money problems adds to the "real story" nature of the situation. When looking at true crimes, there are often details that are left out for a variety of reasons. Fargo presents itself as a dramatization of true events. We can assume the "real" Jerry never told the authorities what the money was for, so it remains a mystery. With almost everyone else involved in the situation dead, it would likely remain a mystery.

Knowing how stupid Jerry is, I've often wondered if he didn't get roped in on some kind of scam. Instead of going to the cops, his pride and general cowardice prevented him from going to the cops or even his own family and he figured he would just whip up the kidnapping plot to get the money back.

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Oh I agree, not sharing the reason for Jerry's debt/embezzlement was part of what makes the film great. &, sure it might just as easily been a get-rich-quick scam. Jerry, most than anything, wants to get out from his FIL's oppressive shadow, so falling for such a scheme might have been what happened.

I just can't help but be intrigued by schemes that go wrong, wondering how they might otherwise have worked. Would Romeo & Juliet have lived happily ever after away from their home & families? How would he support her?

What about Moss in No Country For Old Men? Just keeping the money was a lot more complicated than just not screwing up & going back with water for the injured carteleno. Gangsters would have flooded the nearest towns, asking who hunts out there in the desert? Who has just packed up & left town, & where did they go? I really believe if he had sat there longer & thought things through, he would skimmed a hundred grand or so off the top & left the rest be, hoping it wasn't enough to set them looking, or that they'd believe one of the dead men skimmed it out prior to the shootout.

Like that....:)

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Yeah, the Cohen Brothers are good at writing people who royally screw up. Jerry's plan was not gonna work as any reasonable person would know that the dealership car would eventually be tracked back to him. I think if the plan did go through, I don't think he had an idea as to what to do with the money afterwards. He was not a very bright bulb.

Moss was a bit smarter. Just greedy. Skimming the money would have been better in the long run.

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