Why did he need the money?
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Fargo
nybigapple — 10 years ago(December 30, 2015 12:20 AM)
Did they ever discuss why he needed the money? I get that he was trying to do that parking lot deal? He had already stolen 320k from GMAC which I'm guessing he was putting toward that deal.
Just trying to figure out the motive here. Was he tired of working at the dealership and just wanted out? It didn't really seem to me like he "needed" the money. -
brinsonmh — 10 years ago(December 30, 2015 02:09 PM)
Jerry was embezzling from the dealership, so that's why he needed the money, but it's never explained what Jerry did with the money to begin withhow he lost $320k.
Jerry's scheme skills are shown throughout the flick (he has none) so we can assume it was the failed scheme before the movie, which is all about his final failed scheme. I liked Jerry's weaseling out of explainingit was enough that he needed the money. -
CZJFan87 — 9 years ago(September 18, 2016 02:09 PM)
That's the question I have with this film too (brilliant film by the way. The more I see it, the more I enjoy it. Everything on it is perfect: the script, the acting, the directing marvelous!).
This, how Jerry ended up owing so much money (why he spent so much and in WHAT?), intrigues me a lot. Maybe he was a gambler (I didn't get the vibe of him, so clumsy and never involved with real criminals, being a drug dealer), maybe he had a double life and had to sustain another family. I suppose we will never know since the TV show is a sequel and not a prequel of the film. -
micirisi — 9 years ago(September 20, 2016 02:25 PM)
Don't remember but $320K (according to posts) is not a great fortune to be embezzled over the timespan of a few or even several years for a family man with a nice home. I got the impression Jerry was like a lot of Americans who lived beyond their means and he would "borrow" from the dealership when it got tight financially. Also, who knows what debt he already possessed? I can't envision Jerry asking Wade for some help with a delinquent mortgage payment.
He killed sixteen Czechoslovakians. Guy was an interior decorator. -
thepartydjz — 9 years ago(January 21, 2017 11:33 PM)
A lot of good scenarios here but some of you are overlooking one thing. In the scene were he meets the hoods for the first time he tells them that he couldn't ask his wife or Father-in-law for the money. Insinuating that he had done something they wouldn't approve of or that he was ashamed of or possibly something illegal.
Simply trying to pay the mortgage and keep up his commission would be nothing to be ashamed of and he would most likely be able to ask his wife or FIL for the money if that was the case. It had to be something shifty whatever it was.
My Top 50 Films http://www.imdb.com/list/ls033211402/ -
TxMike — 9 years ago(October 18, 2016 07:51 AM)
Why are some people talking about Jerry needing or embezzling $320,000?
The $320,000 figure is what GMAC had loaned the dealership against the new car inventory. I'll guess that represented maybe 20 new cars at dealer cost of $16,000 each. So if one car, the Cierra, was missing, given to the crooks, then that would be maybe $16,000.
Jerry's parking lot quest would have required $750,000 from his FIL. That is the number they spoke about at the meeting. Regarding the kidnapping he had told the crooks he was going to get $80,000 and split it with them, $20,000 for each crook. But Jerry lied to them too, he was getting $1,000,000 ransom from his FIL and he was going to keep $960,000.
So it never is clear why Jerry needed money or how much he might be in debt. In fact he just might have wanted to make a good profit on the parking lot project and the kidnapping was to give him money that his FIL so far had refused to provide.
In fact when his FIL says they would meet to discuss the parking lot deal the next day, Jerry interpreted this as he would probably get the money and he tried to contact the crooks to cancel the kidnapping contract.
So to answer the OP, "
Why did he need the money?
", it might simply have been to make this once-in-a-lifetime deal and set himself for life.
(I re-watched this just yesterday so it is all fresh in my mind.)
.... TxMike .... -
add2718 — 9 years ago(December 04, 2016 07:44 AM)
The $320,000 figure is what GMAC had loaned the dealership against the new car inventory. I'll guess that represented maybe 20 new cars at dealer cost of $16,000 each. So if one car, the Cierra, was missing, given to the crooks, then that would be maybe $16,000.
I believe the cars didn't actually exist hence Jerry's need to keep sending illegible VINs to the financing company.
Before I read this thread, I thought that Jerry needed the money from Wade (the 750K) in order to pay back the 320K that he got caught embezzling, and then use the rest to continue to live beyond his means or whatever. (The guy on the phone from the financing company said something like "I'll have to ask for that money back if you can't prove the cars exist") -
bahlsdheep — 9 years ago(December 07, 2016 07:14 PM)
I believe the cars didn't actually exist hence Jerry's need to keep sending illegible VINs to the financing company.
This is exactly what he did. Someone else, who was way smarter, did it in real life He got $6BN out of GMAC.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McNamara_(fraudster) -
eddysl12 — 9 years ago(December 08, 2016 04:26 PM)
Since Jerry is a salesman, he probably works more on commission than straight salary. The need to keep up his appearances to Wade would probably provide a great incentive to embezzle money from the dealership when his sales were not quite so good.
I guess Jerry was hoping to make a good amount of profit from that deal that costs 750k in order to pay back Wade when his embezzling was eventually discovered and hopefully this would allow him to avoid prison. -
mpoconnor7 — 9 years ago(December 23, 2016 02:37 PM)
I just don't think Jerry was a very good salesman to begin with. You can see it in the beginning when the couple were there complaining about the True Coat on their car (which Jerry no doubt got some sort of commission for selling to them) and he couldn't talk his way out of a paper sack. Jerry didn't have good defensive verbal skills when confronted by Marge and by his father in law, and it showed when the guy was questioning him about the True Coat. Carl also shut Jerry down immediately when Jerry started to try to debate him. If the guy from GMAC had shown up at the car dealership instead of just calling over the phone, he likely would have alerted the authorities as Jerry would have squirmed like a snake and he would have known Jerry was lying about the cars. It was clear to me Jerry was not a born car dealer, he likely married Jean and her father set him up as a car dealer and because he was a poor car dealer he couldn't keep up with the sales quotas so he started learning how to cook the books here and there to keep the money rolling in. After a few years, he finds himself 320K in debt and needs a big payday to keep him from going to prison for fraud.