Thats the Coen brothers for you. they don't wrap things up nice and tidy. they leave the viewer using their own imaginations how things might go. I'm sure you know the Coens did both Fargo and No Country for Old Men.

Yeah I wish they did though, because they are such great films, I just wish they were a bit more generous. This one in particular bugs me because it is a true story so I am now just reading about what happened on wikipedia, but I wish the film just showed it all, or even gave a written description of what happened afterwards. "Mr Gunderson was tried for whatever and spends life in prison. The son went to live with his grandma" etc.. It definitely could have a nicer ending. There are at least a few unanswered questions, like what was the point of the Asian guy who meets the cop lady and tries make a move on her and she blows him off and she later finds out the guy is delusional. And the poor kid who lost his mother and grandpa and his dad gets arrested all in one go. Whats up with the cop's almost mute husband who follows her around like a sad puppy? I am guessing some kind of PTSD. Not to mention the fact that there is a million dollars buried at the side of a road that nobody knows about! Also what happens to the big guy Gunderson worked with who got him in touch with the bad guys to begin with.

@microscope said:

Yeah I wish they did though, because they are such great films, I just wish they were a bit more generous. This one in particular bugs me because it is a true story

Not a true story. this has been debunked and even the Coen's have come out publicly to say it is not true. they put that in the beginning to make it seem more ominous to the viewer.

You have only seen the movie once so I will drop some knowledge on you as I missed it the first time too. The Asian guy was very important to the story. I know it seems like he appeared out of nowhere him having lunch with Marge out of the blue, but it's his story that he told Marge that makes him important. About a wife that died of cancer and that he was very lonely now. Marge later finds out that this was not true. the woman he named was in fact alive and he actually stalked her to a degree. This made Marge question the honesty of what Jerry Lundergard told her about the car not being from their lot and to believe what he said at face value. Her Minnesota trustiness of people came into question. So she went back to see Jerry once more to corroborate his story. Jerry got flustered and took off. Jerry's involvement began to make the dominoes drop.

Yea I read about the true story lie, that is pretty devious! The asian guy thing is interesting. I don't really like how all that worked though. It seemed like she didn't investigate Jerry or the car dealership at all, she just asked a few questions and left, I figured she was going to return there at some point and do the Columbo thing, or pass the info on to a colleague to go there. I don't feel like she needed the Asian guy thing to convince her that people sometimes lie. But that's just my 2c. I did like a lot about the film though, I love that the hero was a woman. I also love how she was sweet and not hard or macho, and how she sees the document on Jerry's desk while he leaves the room and she is tempted to look at it but doesn't. Great character. I think I would have preferred this film to be longer and just do a bit more. I would have liked the investigation to be more purposeful instead of her just casually checking stuff out and everything falling into place. And the ending could have been much better.

@microscope said:

Yea I read about the true story lie, that is pretty devious! The asian guy thing is interesting. I don't really like how all that worked though. It seemed like she didn't investigate Jerry or the car dealership at all, she just asked a few questions and left, I figured she was going to return there at some point and do the Columbo thing, or pass the info on to a colleague to go there. I don't feel like she needed the Asian guy thing to convince her that people sometimes lie. But that's just my 2c. I did like a lot about the film though, I love that the hero was a woman. I also love how she was sweet and not hard or macho, and how she sees the document on Jerry's desk while he leaves the room and she is tempted to look at it but doesn't. Great character. I think I would have preferred this film to be longer and just do a bit more. I would have liked the investigation to be more purposeful instead of her just casually checking stuff out and everything falling into place. And the ending could have been much better.

Its your opinion. Movies you like are movies you like for the reasons you like. For me I thought it was perfect. But then again, I don't like things nice and tidy in movies. I like to wonder what might have been. If you don't get closure, what do you think happens? What is your opinion on what happens to the son? What happens to Shep Proudfoot, the Indian. IMO the sone goes to his moms funeral, sits at his dads trial, lives with relatives and probably has a nice inheritance from his dead rich grandfather. Shep gets tied into the conspiracy, also goes to trial and more than likely back to prison. Those scenarios make the most sense. I will tell you this. I also watch the show TV Fargo which ties into the movie to a degree. Exists in the same universe anyway. They did an episode in season 1 of the show where they do revisit the buried money in the snow. If you want closure to that, I suggest you watch season 1 of the show. Season 1 and 2 both great in my opinion and are great bookends to the movie

Thanks I might check that out. I would guess the son lives with his grandma and yeah, probably gets inheritance, but lives a sad life with no real family and his grandma wont last forever. I think Shep could probably get off from lack of evidence. Cop Lady has baby and has an uneventful career from there on and retires early. And that money will still be buried at the side of the road when the world ends from Trump nuking Russia and China.

@microscope, Fargo the TV show is really well done. I loved both season one and two. Season three is about to start soon as well.

Cool thanks, I loved the setting and story, it would be nice to get more!