Barton Fink, 1991
Barton Fink
Directed by Joel Coen
Written by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
John Turturro .... Barton Fink
John Goodman .... Charlie Meadows
Judy Davis .... Audrey Taylor
Michael Lerner .... Jack Lipnick
John Mahoney .... W.P. Mayhew
Tony Shalhoub .... Ben Geisler
Jon Polito .... Lou Breeze
Steve Buscemi .... Chet
As you might or might not remember, fellow T5R reviewers, I am a Coen Brothers fan. Hardcore. Serious Coen Brothers-Loving Business around here. This movie certainly helps the whole Serious Business thing. It's high-quality Coen material.
The cast list for Barton Fink is astounding in its quality, which rarely hurts a story that is tempting to begin with. Movie-renters can't go wrong watching a man struggle with writer's block in Hollywood while living next door to a crazy serial killer. Turturro (as a native New Yorker) plays his new-to-Hollywood writer character perfectly, and, as always, Goodman works his skills to play the deceptively nice, down-to-earth Charlie Meadows. John Mahoney is an awesome drunk/former writer, and I love Tony Shalhoub as the snappy production executive who has no patience for writers like Barton.
I liked that this movie's theme was the ravages of writer's block on the daily life of a writer: I can only imagine where the Coens might have come up with that particular central plot. And I liked that though they started with a premise that could have turned out incredibly boring, they somehow incorporated flaming hallways, dead bodies, fast-talking detectives, and wrestling movie outtakes. How does this happen? I don't know, I just know the Coen Brothers are geniuses.
One complaint I have about the movie is that it takes a while to really get going. I want to punch Barton when he looks at that damn picture on the wall while he's not writing, yet again. I mean, for real. Write something. Anything. The writer's block thing gets a little tired after about the third fifteen-minute scene about not writing. But when Mayhew's (Mahoney) drunken antics, Meadows' slightly off-kilter character, and (finally!) a sex scene take the screen, action picks up, and the movie moves a lot faster. It definitely hits a high point in the last fifteen minutes of the movie, and I'm still trying to figure out the meaning of the way it ends. If you all have some theories, post 'em. Whatever the point, I like how it ends.
I liked Barton Fink as a whole movie. It was visually enticing; the acting was on-par for what I expect from a Coen film; and the plot kept me interested throughout, and still has me a tad confused, which is good. It's a thinking person's movie. Maybe? I don't know. I'm tired.
Recommended: B+
(Also this: I am hereby updating my top six Turturro movies list as such: Barton Fink is now #3; the rest drop down one; and Anger Management is off the list. I feel pleased about this revision.)
Directed by Joel Coen
Written by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
John Turturro .... Barton Fink
John Goodman .... Charlie Meadows
Judy Davis .... Audrey Taylor
Michael Lerner .... Jack Lipnick
John Mahoney .... W.P. Mayhew
Tony Shalhoub .... Ben Geisler
Jon Polito .... Lou Breeze
Steve Buscemi .... Chet
As you might or might not remember, fellow T5R reviewers, I am a Coen Brothers fan. Hardcore. Serious Coen Brothers-Loving Business around here. This movie certainly helps the whole Serious Business thing. It's high-quality Coen material.
The cast list for Barton Fink is astounding in its quality, which rarely hurts a story that is tempting to begin with. Movie-renters can't go wrong watching a man struggle with writer's block in Hollywood while living next door to a crazy serial killer. Turturro (as a native New Yorker) plays his new-to-Hollywood writer character perfectly, and, as always, Goodman works his skills to play the deceptively nice, down-to-earth Charlie Meadows. John Mahoney is an awesome drunk/former writer, and I love Tony Shalhoub as the snappy production executive who has no patience for writers like Barton.
I liked that this movie's theme was the ravages of writer's block on the daily life of a writer: I can only imagine where the Coens might have come up with that particular central plot. And I liked that though they started with a premise that could have turned out incredibly boring, they somehow incorporated flaming hallways, dead bodies, fast-talking detectives, and wrestling movie outtakes. How does this happen? I don't know, I just know the Coen Brothers are geniuses.
One complaint I have about the movie is that it takes a while to really get going. I want to punch Barton when he looks at that damn picture on the wall while he's not writing, yet again. I mean, for real. Write something. Anything. The writer's block thing gets a little tired after about the third fifteen-minute scene about not writing. But when Mayhew's (Mahoney) drunken antics, Meadows' slightly off-kilter character, and (finally!) a sex scene take the screen, action picks up, and the movie moves a lot faster. It definitely hits a high point in the last fifteen minutes of the movie, and I'm still trying to figure out the meaning of the way it ends. If you all have some theories, post 'em. Whatever the point, I like how it ends.
I liked Barton Fink as a whole movie. It was visually enticing; the acting was on-par for what I expect from a Coen film; and the plot kept me interested throughout, and still has me a tad confused, which is good. It's a thinking person's movie. Maybe? I don't know. I'm tired.
Recommended: B+
(Also this: I am hereby updating my top six Turturro movies list as such: Barton Fink is now #3; the rest drop down one; and Anger Management is off the list. I feel pleased about this revision.)