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Look closely at the dead trooper's closed eyes. You'll notice during the length of the shot that his closed eyes move. Fast forward to make this more obvious. See more...

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The storyboard artist for the movie has a small role. He is the driver of the car that slowly passes by when Buscemi is dragging the state trooper's body off the road. See more...

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Fargo (1996) - 5 questions

Directed by Joel Coen, starring Frances McDormand, Peter Stormare, Steve Buscemi, William H. Macy (add more)

Genres: Crime, Drama, Thriller

The "questions" section is for any random questions that occurred to you while watching this film, or anything you didn't entirely understand, and which Google or the IMDb can't help with. Submit them as a question, and hopefully someone will answer (the bold comments in brackets) - check back regularly. If the answer is wrong, or missing information, please use the "clarify answer" option. Don't feel limited - want to know what music played in a certain scene? Whether this was the first film to use a certain effect? Here's the place to ask!

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Question: On the DVD's front cover it says that this film is based on a true story, but I have heard a rumour that this is a complete lie and the entire film is fictional. Is this true and if so are they allowed to say it's based on truth, when it's totally made up?

Answer: That rumour is true. There is a bit of information to the story so this link will explain a bit more of the detail, Link 1 & Link 2. It is somewhat of a complicated issue but it is allowed. Texas Chainsaw massacre (which was also claimed to be true but was not) is an example of this. The technique has allowed distributors and filmmakers to make the film more enticing to audiences. While the tagline is not completely true, the fact that some elements are true means it is not totally false.

Edit Answered by Lummie

Question: Are we ever told exactly why Jerry needs the money? His $750,000 deal with the parking lot falls through and he owes GMAC $320,000. He is going to give the kidnappers $40,000, but then it's increased to $80,000. But he sets the ransom at only $1 million. So what is the deal?

Answer: The business deal didn't actually fall through. Jerry needed $750,000 to proceed with it. He tried borrowing the capital from his father-in-law, who refused to lend it to him. Instead, the father-in-law wanted to invest in the deal himself and to give Jerry a small finder's commission. Outraged, Jerry devised the phony kidnap scheme so he could get the money to invest in the parking lot. (He never intended for his wife to be harmed.) Presumably he planned to pay off the kidnappers and partially repay GMAC with some of the $1,000,000 ransom money, and use the rest for the investment deal.

Edit Answered by raywest

Question: What is Jerry's wife watching on TV when she is about to be kidnapped?

Answer: A local TV show in the Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota area called "Good Company" which starred Steve and Sharon Adelman. It has been off the air for many years now.

Edit

Question: I've heard that the kidnappers names are Carl and Gaear. Where in the film is this fact established?

Answer: At the beginning of the movie when Jerry meets them both in the bar to discuss the kidnapping. Carl introduces himself and Gaear to Jerry.

Edit Answered by Tina Gilliam

Question: By the time Jerry gets arrested, his wife and her father are both dead. What will now happen to Jerry's son, now that his dad is in jail, and his mother and grandfather are both dead?

Answer: While there is nothing in the film that explains this, the most likely step taken by the authorities would have been to see whether Jerry and his wife had made out an will and who they would give legal custody of their son if anything happened to them. If there was no will then it's likely the closest family or relatives would be asked to take custody.

Edit Answered by Lummie