Fargo

Continuity mistake: When Marge sees Gaer shove Carl's body into the wood chipper, there's a huge blood puddle around the wood chipper. But moments later, as she shoots runaway Gaer, the wood chipper is visible behind her and the puddle completely disappears. There are only minor blood stains.

Plot hole: The two kidnappers are pulled over by the cop they eventually murder because they are not displaying temporary tags on their car. However, when Marge Gunderson shows up to investigate the crime scene the next morning, she figures out from the cop's citation book that the car had dealer plates (DLR.) If the car had dealer plates, they wouldn't need to display temporary tags, as tags are to be used when a license plate is not yet available for a car. There was no need to pull the kidnappers over, which makes the turning point of the story completely pointless.

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: Temporary tags have a non-unique number and the designation of the dealer on them, the cop put down DLR and was then going to put the dealer's number when they produced the temporary tag which they said they had forgotten to place in the window. On a temporary tag, the "tag number" is either the date the temporary tag expires or one of a limited number assigned to that dealer so it is not unusual to see duplicate temporary tags on different cars on the same day - you would need the dealer's number which is rather small at the bottom of the paper to actually identify the car.

Myridon

But the point is that the police officer said he pulled them over because they were displaying no tag. If there had been a dealer tag on the car, then why would the officer have pulled them over? That's what a dealer tag is for: so a car can be driven displaying it. Yet everything that happens after that is predicated on the officer having begun to write out the number *on their tag*.

Suggested correction: They probably just had the generic plastic dealership logo plate on. Not an actual dealer plate with a number, but something with a logo and "Gustafson Motors" on it (or whatever the name of the car lot was).

Kyle G.

That means they have no tags and the cop wouldn't write DLR. A logo with the dealer's name isn't a dealer tag.

Bishop73

Continuity mistake: When Shep strangles Carl with the leather belt, as he is putting the belt around Carl's neck Carl's hands are caught inside the belt as the shot changes; but when the shot changes to a different angle his hands are seen outside the belt.

Matthew Madden

Factual error: Per the opening credits, the movie is set in 1987, but when Carl leaves the airport parking garage, the billboard in front of him shows Northwest's "Bowling Shoe" livery which was not introduced until 1989.

Continuity mistake: When Marge goes back to Lundegaard's office for the second time, he is working on writing the vin numbers on a paper on a clip board, scratching them off and scratching his pencil on a "I love golf" notepad. When he leaves his office to complete a "Lot Count", Marge is looking around Lundegaard's office. The camera pans back to his desk and the paper that Lundegaard was writing the vehicles vins on the clipboard is no longer there and has been replaced with another piece of paper/application.

CARAMENTE22

Character mistake: When Jerry and Scotty are talking in Scotty's bedroom, after his Mom's kidnapping, there is a poster behind Scotty's door. The poster says "Accordian King" but should have been spelled, "Accordion King."

CARAMENTE22

Other mistake: When Jerry returns home to find that Jean has been kidnapped, he sees the shower curtain rod that's loaded with rings, and there are more rings on the floor. There's way too many rings for a single shower curtain that would use 12 or so at the very most.

applejackson

Marge Gunderson: So that was Mrs. Lundegaard on the floor in there. And I guess that was your accomplice in the wood chipper.

Kyle G.

More quotes from Fargo

Trivia: The movie wasn't based on a true story. The Coen brothers just threw that in. That said, the special edition DVD of the film contains a statement that the film was inspired by a real life incident in which Richard Crafts killed his wife Helle and disposed of her body by feeding it through a woodchipper.

More trivia for Fargo

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.

Lummie

He probably still has Lundegaard Grandparent (s) and a grandmother from his mother's side - any of which could and would become his legal guardian (s).

KeyZOid

He'll be a rich man. Grandfather said early in the movie that his daughter and her son would bever have to worry about money or words to that effect.

Answer: Early in the film, Jerry's father-in-law makes it a point to mention that his daughter and grandson will never have to worry, financially. It's implied Wade made the necessary arrangements to ensure Jerry's son would be provided for in the event something happened to his parents.

More questions & answers from Fargo

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