Was this ever discussed? Did Jerry have a gambling debt issue or any connection to any criminal faction?
shareI think it was just pride.
He married into it, and wanted to prove to himself/wife/family that he could bring home a big kill.
No, but I think it's likely he had gotten into other issues. I wondered if it was because he was just a terrible car salesman and had lost thousands of dollars on crappy deals. But, considering he's a massive scam artist in the film, he was likely always like that and had done several other scams that got him into some serious debt.
shareThe thing is, scam artists aren't scam artists just because they're scam artists. People can make choices, they have a rational brain.
Why would someone that can afford to live in a really good neighbourhood in a really big house, able to live in wealthy enough circumstances to keep a rich wife, son, great furniture, cars, etc. and also has a good, high-paying job that he's good at, ever find himself in that kind of a situation?
I mean, I would understand if he lived in poverty and his life was going to hell, but he has a REALLY good life, even by western, rich-country standards! He has a glass floor called 'a rich wife', and EVEN if the dad hates him, because he's married to the rich guy's daughter, the money is BOUND to be spilled to his direction, no matter how the daddy tries - after all, the rich dad wants to keep his daughter happy, so he can't go TOO far in hating Jerry and trying to prevent him from getting money.
He gives his daughter 10 000, and the wife that LOVES her husband happily and cheerfully, will gladly share that 10 000 with him.
He should _NOT_ have monetary problems in _THAT_ situation, unless some kind of very expensive and important goal is explained in the movie. It isn't.
He has no goal, he has no reason, he's just somehow 'moneyhungry' and 'needs a lot of money' because 'personal matters'.
What it boils down to is BAD WRITING. "I couldn't think of anything, so I wrote 'personal matters', there, problem solved'.
Can't wait for the pitch meeting for this lying travesty.. nothing makes any sense. Why would Buscemi's character even team up with the psycho guy, and how can the psycho end up working for him and not raise any suspicion until the cop asks Buscemi's character to step out of the car?
Also, why not LET him step out of the car, what's the worst that could happen? I am not even going into the whole 'freeman on the land'-phenomenon here... nothing about this movie makes much, if any sense.
To add, simp as a husband? That would only happen if the wife is banging thugs on the side, and doesn't actually love the simp at all (this is how real world works, movies always lie to us about mating, pairing and female psyche and sexuality).
There's no woman on the planet, even someone as ugly as the Mary Sue of this movie, that would be attracted to that BORING BETA SIMP that has no redeeming qualities when it comes to turning on a woman.
There's a reason why women are hypergamous, and why they go for the high-status men (and there's SO much confusion about this, because even the 'enlightened' MGTOWs and PUAs and other guys can't let go of the idea that LOOKS somehow turn on a woman. They don't. There's just so much projection that even women think they do. A good-looking, shy, poor, no-status Linux nerd is not gonna get a woman, An ugly, fat, rich celebrity alpha male will always get plenty of women. Is Ron Jeremy goodlooking? Jack Nicholson? Bill Gates? Henry Kissinger? Donald Trump? NO.They swim in p*ssy.)
I don't care how ugly the guy is, but his behaviour is almost introvert, he has NO energy, no excitement, no drama, it's 'yes, dear' all the way and the woman dominates the relationship just like she dominates everyone - Mary Sue that she is. We can't have a woman in the movie that ISN'T better than all the men in movie history in EVERYTHING, can we?
In any case, this is a really stupid and plodding movie, I can't fathom why anyone would like it. Full of stupid deaths and gore - I only watch this stuff for Buscemi, as he has a great onscreen presence and charisma. And swims in p*ssy as well.
I bet you're really mad this won the Coen Brothers best Screenplay at the Oscars.
shareJerry wanted to buy a large property, to build what I don't remember, but he didn't have the money for it so he arranged for his wife to be kidnapped so he would intercept, of course, and take the ransom money his father-in-law would pay.
If I remember correctly, just prior to the kidnapping - perhaps even on the same day so no one knew it even happened yet - he met with his father-in-law and the father-in-law's attorney to ask him for the money. His father-in-law offered to give Jerry a "finder's fee" because he said it sounded like a good deal and he himself would be interested, but Jerry said he needs the whole thing, which they refused to give him and he ends up with nothing.
My impression was that if the father-in-law agreed to give him the money, he would have called off the kidnapping.
I believe he had embezzled money from his business.
shareThere's a scene where he's talking to someone about the numbers for cars it sounds like he's borrowed money on, or is trying to borrow money on. I don't think the movie gets into why he was doing that. Maybe he made some bad investments or had a gambling problem.
The Cohens didn't think the details mattered too much. It just showed you that Jerry was an unscrupulous guy and his father in law was right not to trust him.