Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy) is a car salesman in Minneapolis who has gotten himself into debt and is so desperate for money that he hires two thugs (Steve Buscemi & Peter Stormare) to kidnap his own wife. Jerry will collect the ransom from her wealthy father, paying the thugs a small portion and keeping the rest to satisfy his debts. The scheme collapses when the thugs shoot a state trooper. This leads to an investigation by pregnant sheriff Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) who begins to see the cracks in Lundegaard’s scheme.