FARGO Fargo

Fargo: Script Excerpts

(Note: this script was downloaded from the Internet)

                             FARGO

                        a screenplay by

                    Ethan Coen and Joel Coen

The Complication

GUSTAFSON OLD GARAGE

Jerry wanders through the service area where cars are being
worked on.  He stops by an Indian in blue jeans who is
looking at the underside of a car that sits on a hydraulic
lift with a cage light hanging off its innards.

                         JERRY
               Say, Shep, how ya doin' there?

                         SHEP
               Mm.

                         JERRY
               Say, ya know those two fellas
               ya put me in touch with, up
               there in Fargo?

                         SHEP
               Put you in touch with Grimsrud.

                         JERRY
               Well, yah, but he had a buddy
               there.  He, uh -

                         SHEP
               Well, I don't vouch for him.

                         JERRY
               Well, that's okay, I just -

                         SHEP
               I vouch for Grimsrud.  Who's his
               buddy?

                         JERRY
               Carl somethin'?

                         SHEP
               Never heard of him.  Don't vouch
               for him.

                         JERRY
               Well, that's okay, he's a buddy
               of the guy ya vouched for, so I'm
               not worryin'.  I just, I was
               wonderin', see, I gotta get in
               touch with 'em for, I might not
               need it anymore, sumpn's happenin',
               see -

                         SHEP
               Call 'em up.

                         JERRY
               Yah, well, see, I did that, and
               I haven't been able to get 'em,
               so I thought you maybe'd know an
               alternate number or what have ya.

                         SHEP
               Nope.

Jerry slaps his fist into his open palm and snaps his
fingers.

                         JERRY
               Okay, well, real good, then.

Plot Point: Act I

FOYER

Once again we are looking at the rumpled shower curtain.

From another room:

                         JERRY
               Yah, Wade, I - it's Jerry, I.

Then, slightly more agitated.

                         JERRY
               ...  Yah, Wade, it's, I, it's
               Jerry...

Beat.

                         JERRY
               ...  Wade, it's Jerry, I - we
               gotta talk, Wade, it's terrible...

Beat.


LIVING ROOM

Jerry stands in wide shot, hands on hips, looking down at a
telephone.

After a motionless beat he picks up the phone and punches in
a number.

                         JERRY
               ...  Yah, Wade Gustafson, please.


BLACK

Plot Point: Act II

JERRY LUNDEGAARD'S OFFICE

Jerry is at his desk using a blunt pencil to enter numbers
onto a form.  Beneath the form is a piece of carbon paper
and beneath that another form copy, which Jerry periodically
checks.  The carbon-copy form shows thick smudgy, illegible
entries.

Jerry hums nervously.

Glass rattles as someone taps at his door.

Jerry looks up and freezes, mouth hanging open, brow knit
with worry.

Marge sticks her head in the door.

                         MARGE
               Mr. Lundegaard?  Sorry to bother
               you again.  Can I come in?

She starts to enter.

                         JERRY
               Yah, no, I'm kinda - I'm kinda
               busy -

                         MARGE
               I unnerstand.  I'll keep it real
               short, then.  I'm on my way out
               of town, but I was just -  Do you
               mind if I sit down?  I'm carrying
               a bit of a load here.

                         JERRY
               No, I -

But she is already sitting into the chair opposite with a
sigh of relieved weight.

                         MARGE
               Yah, it's this vehicle I asked you
               about yesterday.  I was just
               wondering -

                         JERRY
               Yah, like I told ya, we haven't had
               any vehicles go missing.

                         MARGE
               Okay, are you sure, cause, I mean,
               how do you know?  Because, see,
               the crime I'm investigating, the
               perpetrators were driving a car
               with dealer plates.  And they
               called someone who works here, so
               it'd be quite a coincidence if
               they weren't, ya know, connected.

                         JERRY
               Yah, I see.

                         MARGE
               So how do you - have you done any
               kind of inventory recently?

                         JERRY
               The car's not from our lot, ma'am.

                         MARGE
               but do you know that for sure
               without -

                         JERRY
               Well, I would know.  I'm the
               Executive Sales Manager.

                         MARGE
               Yah, but -

                         JERRY
               We run a pretty tight ship here.

                         MARGE
               I know, but - well, how do you
               establish that, sir?  Are the
               cars, uh, counted daily or what
               kind of -

                         JERRY
               Ma'am, I answered your question.

There is a silent beat.

                         MARGE
               ...  I'm sorry, sir?

                         JERRY
               Ma'am, I answered your question.
               I answered the darn -  I'm
               cooperating here, and I...

                         MARGE
               Sir, you have no call to get
               snippy with me.  I'm just doin'
               my job here.

                         JERRY
               I'm not, uh, I'm not arguin' here.
               I'm cooperating...  There's no, uh
               - we're doin' all we can...

He trails off into silence.

                         MARGE
               Sir, could I talk to Mr. Gustafson?

Jerry stares at her.

                         MARGE
               ...  Mr. Lundegaard?

Jerry explodes:

                         JERRY
               Well, heck, if you wanna, if you
               wanna play games here!  I'm
               workin' with ya on this thing, but
               I...

He is getting angrily off his feet.

                         JERRY
               Okay, I'll do a damned lot count!

                         MARGE
               Sir?  Right now?

                         JERRY
               Sure right now!  You're darned
               tootin'!

He is yanking his parka from a hook behind the opened door
and grabbing a pair of galoshes.

                         JERRY
               ...  If it's so damned important
               to ya!

                         MARGE
               I'm sorry, sir, I -

Jerry has the parka slung over one arm and the galoshes
pinched in his hand.

                         JERRY
               Aw, what the Christ!

He stamps out the door.

Marge stares.

After a long moment her stare breaks.  She glances idly
around the office.

There is a framed picture facing away from her on the
desktop.  She turns it to face her.  It is Scotty, holding
an accordion.  There is another picture of Jean.

Marge looks at it, looks around, for some reason, at the
ceiling.

She looks at a trophy shelf on the wall behind her.

She fiddles idly with a pencil.  She pulls a clipboard
toward her.  It holds a form from the General Motors Finance
Corporation.

She looks idly around.  Her look abruptly locks.

                         MARGE
               ...  Oh, for Pete's sake.

Jerry is easing his car around the near corner of the
building.

Marge's voice is flat with dismay:

                         MARGE
               ...  Oh, for Pete's sake...

She grabs the phone and punches in a number.

                         MARGE
               ...  For Pete's s- he's fleein' the
               interview.  He's fleein' the
               interview...

Jerry makes a left turn into traffic.

                         MARGE
               ...  Detective Sibert, please...

[BACK TO TEXT]


MODULE 4: SCREENWRIGHT: the craft of screenwriting

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