Fargo

Two guys...

A Russian and some...

Some kind of oriental.

-(MEN PUNCHING) -(NIKKI CONTINUES GROANING)

Drove a late model Cadillac.

I didn't get the license.

Ahh.

You ready?

-(GUN COCKING) -Oh, you betcha.

Come on.

This is a true story.

A 150-year-old bank

with $60 billion in assets collapses overnight.

Its stock price drops 93% in eight hours.

One day, it's solvent, the next, it's worthless.

Perception of reality becomes reality.

Another true story.

The First World War was started by a sandwich.

On June 28th, 1914,

Gavrilo Princip, one of seven conspirators,

failed to blow up the Archduke of Austria

with a hand grenade.

Demoralized, Gavrilo stopped for lunch

at Schiller's delicatessen

on Franz Joseph Street in Sarajevo.

But as he was eating,

the Archduke's driver, lost,

pulled up outside the restaurant and stopped.

Fate had delivered Gavrilo's target to him

and he would not miss twice.

-(GUNSHOT) -(PEOPLE SCREAMING)

One last story, also true.

Here men from the Planet Earth

first set foot upon the moon.

July 1969 A.D.

I guess you're about the only person around

that doesn't have TV coverage of the scene.

That's one small step for man,

one giant leap for mankind.

-(BELL RINGS) Cut!

Wait.

What?

It was a sound stage in New Mexico.

That's not...

That never happened.

"Let each man say what he deems truth

"and let truth itself be commended unto God."

Emmit, are you gonna...

The point is, Stussy Lots Ltd. are in the process of securing

$50 million in new loans.

Now, we're gonna use that money to buy 16 more lots,

after paying some healthy bonuses

to the partners, of course.

You're talking about

doubling the size of the company in six months?

-Three months. -It's a lot of debt.

And just to line our pockets? Shouldn't we...

I'm just sayin', a more cautious approach. Why not?

Because the shallow end of the pool

is where the turds float.

Emmit?

No one ever got anywhere staying home, Sy.

What does that mean?

It means, we're either doing this,

or we're not doing it.

Whether you step off the board with one foot or two,

you still end up in the water.

Okay. But what about the IRS?

You said yourself, he's sitting

in the conference room right now,

going over the books.

Some books, not "the" books.

What the heck does that mean?

Let's just say for testimonial purposes,

it's better that you don't know.

Oh, you think the IRS won't... This is what they do.

Catch cheats.

Middle managers and movie stars,

people who park their money in a Denver Wells Fargo

under their mother-in-law's maiden name.

But I assure you,

the IRS could not unravel an intricate web

of shell companies and loan-outs with secret accounts

in Monaco, Luxembourg, and the Cook Islands,

if you gave them the account numbers.

What?

I'm beginning to think that

finance is more of a hobby with you.

Just how are we supposed to...

It's already done.

I've even seeded in the odd 100K as an act of good faith.

Emmit, you wanna...

Your problem, Mr. Feltz, is you think

you started a parking lot company.

You started a bank. This is a true story.

When I'm done with you,

they'll be sponging you off the floor.

Yeah? You'll be in the poor house

making soup out of your dirty socks.

Bigger the bank, the safer the banker.

So, the IRS?

Leave the IRS to me.

Section 41C of the US tax code

affords my client the right to licensed representation

in the face of any IRS inquiry.

As counsel, I'm filing here with you an official protest

to this baseless and cockeyed inquiry,

and demand you withdraw immediately

and file by mail

the statutory-required 30-day notice

listing the exact documents you require

and personnel you wish to interview.

Until that time, we demand you vacate our offices.

Immediately.

(OPERATIC MUSIC PLAYING ON RADIO)

Third fella.

Could be the head honcho.

No.

Why not?

Baby, trust me.

I want payback, maybe even more than you.

But we gotta wait.

Babe, shouldn't we... (SIGHS)

I'm worried you've got internal injuries.

I'm fine.

I'm just saying, drop in to the emergency room,

let 'em take a look.

You said yourself, the cops are looking for me.

And these fellas, the villains,

probably watching the hospital.

I don't like it.

He's into something, your brother.

I got the sense from his lawyer, Feltz,

that it may be involuntary.

Meaning, against his will.

So, you sayin'...

What are you sayin'?

Some shady dealings.

Guys like your brother, fat cats,

making secret moves, looking for quick returns.

What do they care if a wad is legit or not?

Didn't you say he was having money trouble a while back?

In the crash, yeah.

Business like theirs, real estate,

with the mortgage collapse.

He never said so, Emmit, but I think he was worried.

So, what does he do?

He goes to the bank, tries to borrow.

But we know from the news, they're not lending.

A loan shark?

On that level they call 'em something else.

Private equity.

But a shark in a suit is still a shark.

We got any more aspirin?

Those fellas are lucky you held me back.

No one puts a finger on my woman

-and gets away with it. -Easy, baby.

You'll get your chance.

But first, we gotta know the play.

Yeah.

Right this way.

Mr. Stussy, these ladies are here to see you.

Oh, yeah?

-Gloria Burgle. -(INDISTINCT)

Hi. Winnie Lopez.

-Would you like to sit down? Yeah, thanks.

-What's this about? -(GLORIA SIGHS)

I'm, uh, chief of Eden Valley.

Out near Paynesville. -Right.

And, uh, Officer Lopez is from here in St. Cloud.

I was in the other night

talking to your Mr. Feltz

about a traffic skirmish involving a company car.

Well, I'm... Sure. I mean,

Sy's the man to help you there.

I don't know how I could, uh...

Moshi-moshi.

I'm sorry, I couldn't help but overhearin', uh...

This sounds like my area of expertise,

if you like to talk in my office?

That's... I got it.

Don't trouble yourself.

There's no trouble. I know how busy you are.

So, what are we talking about here?