lukewarmwater

So why did William H Macy's Character in Fargo have his wife kidnapped?

I just watched it and I can't figure it out.

Was it because he lost the cars? Was it because he wanted to build a parking lot? Does it not say?


I don't really think its a spoiler because you find out at the begining and the movie is a few years old, but either way.
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Cygnet74

Duh Vuh Duh

Figured this didn't need it's own thread, so, is the above true? Just got done watching the SE and I think in the Charlie Rose interview extra, Charlie says the character was involved in a real estate deal?

After he thought he was going to get 750k from the parking lot deal, he didn't want to go through with the kidnapping anymore. So, was that enough to pay off the 320k "cars that didn't exist" debt and do the real estate thing?

ETA: sorry I know I'm splitting hairs here, I just wanted to know what his "problems" were that his wife and FIL didn't konw about.

Mr. Salty

He was embezzling money from the car dealership for whatever reason and the financing company was starting to catch on.

Remember, the car dealership was owned by his father-in-law, who treated him like shit. The movie never reveals exactly why Jerry is embezzling. Maybe it was because he was trying to become more independent of his father-in-law, or maybe he had a gambling problem. Who knows? But the money was gone and he was about to be found out.

Jerry was relying on the real estate deal (for the parking lot) to achieve some financial independence from his father-in-law, but his father-in-law stabbed him in the back and took it out from under him.