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“ | You're darn tootin! | „ |
~ Jerry's famous line. |
“ | It's my deal here, Wade. | „ |
~ Jerry arguing with Wade over the finder's fee. |
“ | I'm... I'm not arguing here! I'm cooperating. So there's no need to... we're doin' all we can here. | „ |
~ Jerry being interrogated by Officer Gunderson. |
Jerry Lundegaard is the secondary antagonist of the 1996 black comedy crime film Fargo.
He was portrayed by William H. Macy, who also portrayed Edmond Burke in the 2005 film adaptation of Edmond, Lefty Maginnis in Everyone's Hero, Jack Powell in Law & Order, and Trevathan in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.
Biography[]
Jerry Lundegaard was born likely sometime in the early 1940s in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Little is known about Jerry's background, only that he was once an exceptional golfer and earned many trophies. He was also a fan of a hockey team dubbed the Gophers. He also seemed to be familiar with the Kiwanis Club as he possessed their decorative pin. At one point, he met and married a woman and Jean Gustafson and they bore a son that they named Scotty. Jean's father, Wade, disapproved of her marriage to Jerry as he saw Jerry as a disappointment, which left Jerry with deep insecure feelings.
Despite his dislike of Jerry, Wade nevertheless gave him a job as a car salesman at his business, Gustafson Motors, where he climbed up the ranks and became the sales manager. Despite this, Wade continued to put Jerry down at every opportunity he can. Soon, Jerry became desperate to go into business for himself, to the point where in December 1986, he scammed the GMAC $320,000 out of a loan and collateralized it with nonexistent dealership vehicles. To pay back the loan, Jerry at first attempts to extort Wade out of $750,000 by bringing up a real-estate deal involving producing a parking lot within 40 acres of land in Wayzata, but Wade apparently put a pin in it and told Jerry he would give it thought. Still desperate, Jerry soon devised a scheme to still extort Wade out of 80 grand by having Jean kidnapped by a criminal. One such criminal, Gaear Grimsrud, was recommended to Jerry by Shep Proudfoot, a Native-American decent employee of Gustafson Motors who was a paroled ex-criminal. This is where Jerry's downward spiral began.
Fargo (1996)[]
In January 1987, Jerry travels to Fargo, North Dakota, towing a car from Wade's dealership for Gaer to use in the kidnapping. Arriving an hour late for the scheduled meeting, Jerry locates Grimsrud alongside a fellow small-time criminal named Carl Showalter at a bar where they end up discussing the details about the plan, including them getting a 50% cut of the $80,000 ransom. Despite his nervousness about this whole ordeal, Jerry and the criminals agree to the terms, after which Jerry stays at Fargo for the night before returning to Minneapolis the next day in the afternoon.
Jerry returns home where he finds that Wade is visiting and stays for supper. When Jean and Scotty leave the table, Jerry asks Wade if he thought about the parking lot proposal. Wade says he's still unsure about it due to the large sum of cash Jerry is asking for and even says that Jerry should take the matter up with Wade's second-in-command, Stan Grossman, but Jerry feels as though Stan will refuse.
The next few days entail how Jerry's scheme falls apart. After Jerry overcharges a couple for a vehicle by making them accept a sealant-covered car even though they were not interested in the sealant, the next morning shows Wade calling him and asks him to come to his office at 2:30pm, where he agrees to front the $750,000 for Jerry's lot. Jerry considers calling off the kidnapping including asking Shep if he could tell him how to get in touch with Grumsrud, but Shep says no and Jerry gets a call from a representative of GMAC, Riley Dieffenbach, asking about the serial numbers of the non-existent vehicles Jerry dished out to them, but Jerry keeps trying to steer him away from that matter and says he already got the money from GMAC and considers the deal to be done, but Riley states he will have to call back the money if Jerry doesn't produce readable serial numbers. Wanting Riley off his back, Jerry lies and says he will get on it.
He goes to Wade's office to close the lot deal, but learns that Gustafson plans to make the deal himself, giving Jerry a finder's fee, even though it was Jerry's idea. At Jerry's home, Carl and Gaear carry out the kidnapping. As they transport Jean to their remote cabin on Moose Lake, a state trooper pulls them over outside Brainerd for driving without temporary tags. When the trooper hears a sound from the back seat, Gaear kills him, then chases down two eyewitnesses and shoots them.
The following morning, Brainerd police chief Marge Gunderson discovers that the dead trooper was ticketing a car with dealership plates. Later, two men driving a dealership vehicle checked into the nearby Blue Ox Motel with two call girls, then placed a call to Proudfoot. After questioning the prostitutes, she drives to Gustafson's dealership, where Proudfoot feigns ignorance and Jerry insists no cars are missing.
Jerry informs Gustafson that the kidnappers have demanded $1,000,000, and will deal only through him. Meanwhile, Carl, in light of the complication of three murders, demands that Jerry hand over the entire $80,000. Riley calls Jerry back and warns Jerry that his patience is running out as he gives Jerry 24 hours to prove the existence of the vehicles or to both return the loan and face legal consequences. Carl is beaten by a furious Proudfoot for bringing him under suspicion and, at his wits end, Carl orders Jerry to deliver the ransom immediately. Gustafson insists on making the money drop himself. At the drop point in a Minneapolis parking garage, he tells Carl he will not hand over the money without seeing Jean, Gustafson is shot by Carl and he shoots Carl back in the Jaw, Carl then shoots Gustafson to death and leaves with the money.
Jerry soon ventures to the parking lot and notices the dead bodies of a parking attendant Showalter dealt with alongside Wade. Horrified, he returns home and vainly tries to reassure a devastated Scotty that everything will be fine. The next morning, Marge returns to Gustafson's dealership. Jerry continues to insist that he is not missing any cars. Marge asks him to inventory the lot. Jerry, notably annoyed, agrees to do the inventory, but then she spots him fleeing the dealership, and calls the State Police. After going on the run, Jerry is found in a motel outside of Bismarck in North Dakota. When police arrive, he forgets the alias he used and tries to delay them. The police enter and arrest Jerry as he tries to escape, forcing him onto the bed. In a truly pathetic end to the character, Jerry grunts and cries in his underwear as the police arrest him. It can be assumed he either spent the rest of his life or a large portion of it in prison, and his financial problems will likely worsen if the victims' families decide to sue him. Unknown to Jerry, Gaear kills Jean and argues with Carl about the money resulting in Gaear killing Carl with an axe. Marge then casually passing by Moose Lake, identifies the car, and stops by, surprising Gaear when he was putting Carl's body in a woodchipper. Marge then arrests Gaear.
Fargo (2014)[]
Although Jerry did not make any appearances in the 2014 sequel series, he is alluded to on some occasions, like how his father-in-law's money was founded by a Greek-descended businessman who used the money to open a grocery store chain and how a character in the first season, Lester Nygaard, is sort of the show's equivalent to Jerry in all but name and appearance.
Personality[]
Jerry is a very nervous and temperamental man who frequently stutters. He is shown to be very greedy and selfish, as he is willing to put his wife's life in danger just to solve his own problems, and he is also shown to be a coward.
In addition to being a selfish coward, Jerry also appears to lack common sense. This is best shown at the beginning where he insists on having Carl and Gaear kidnap Jean despite the two suggesting that it isn't a good idea. He also never considered that it is possible that things would get violent or the impact that Jean's kidnapping would have on their son. That said, Jerry does have some morals as while he continued going on with his scheme, he was disgusted when he found out about the murders, and even went as far berating Carl when he threatened their son.
Trivia[]
- William H. Macy begged the directors for the role of Jerry Lundegaard. He did two readings for the part, and became convinced he was the best man for the role. When the Coens didn't get back to him, he flew to New York (where they were starting production) and jokingly said, "I'm very, very worried that you are going to screw up this movie by giving this role to somebody else. It's my role, and I'll shoot your dogs if you don't give it to me."
- William H. Macy stated in an interview that, despite evidence to the contrary, he did hardly any ad-libbing at all. Most of his character's stuttering mannerisms were written in the script exactly the way he does them in the film.
- William H. Macy was doodling between takes and the Coens decided to use it for a scene.
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