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Miller's Crossing (1990)
The Coens go back to the depression era and tell a tale of gangsters and double-crosses, men in long coats and hats, carrying Tommy Guns, riding the running boards of their Model Ts and smoking cigars. There are no women in this film, rather there are dames - you get the picture. Miller's Crossing is set in an unnamed American city during prohibition, and follows the lives of the local gangsters bootlegging, gambling, profiteering, and genrally getting in each others way. The focus is on Tom Regan (Gabriel Byrne), a mid level gangster more thoughtful than most, and the turf war he gets involved in despite his better judgment. But this is a post modern take on things, with the whole affair being more about the gangster film genre than these actual gangsters. The Coens are having fun with genre tropes and feeding off the audience's knowledge of how traditional gangster films work. There is much to admire once you're aware of this; excellent performances, especially John Turturro, in his first of many stints with the Coens, impeccable cinematography, exquisite period detail and costume design, wonderful music by Coens regular Carter Burwell, and an intelligent script combined with the usual solid direction. There's not much to fault here. |
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Barton Fink (1991)
After his brilliant performance in Miller's Crossing John Turturro is given top-billing as the title character this time, in the tale of a New York playwright who accepts an offer to write movie scripts in Hollywood in the early forties. A pretentious fellow, Fink has grand ideas about his writing and the purpose of writing in general. He's obsessed with the idea of chronicling the life of 'the common man', when in fact he despises the common man. His lofty ideals of writing the great American play are slowly erroded when he ends up with an assignment to write a B-movie wrestling picture for Wallace Beery, which considering how arrogant and dismissive he is of such things we reckon is about what he deserves. However that's when writer's block descends on him and there follows a bizarre series of events, mostly connected with Charlie Meadows (John Goodman) - his 'common man' neighbour at the hotel in which they're both staying. With the unwanted help of Meadows he tries and fails to produce a script with 'that Barton Fink feeling', or indeed any script at all, until events take a sinister turn. Both Turturro and Goodman are fantastic here in a claustrophobic piece which features some top notch writing by the Coens who, not coincidentally, were struggling with their own writer's block at the time. |
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The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
Unfairly maligned at the time for being too calculated I think this is a delightfully daft take on the forties Howard Hawks, Preston Sturges type movie for which the Coens obviously have a great fondness. It features a likeably innocent lanky young hick, played by Tim Robbins, who's seeking success in the Big City. If that sounds familiar then this film is obviously succeeding at what it set out to do, which is to take the viewer back to those screwball romantic comedies that were popular in the forties. Everything from the impressive production design, the costumes, makeup and hairstyles of the day, right down to the cadence of how people talked back then are reproduced with a tremendous eye for detail and this sets the scene brilliantly. It's a rags to riches to rags story told with the Coens' usual bucket-load of visual flair and it features some bravura character acting from old stalwarts like Charles Durning and an on form Paul Newman, who's obviously enjoying himself. Jennifer Jason Leigh pulls off the dame-with-sass act nicely. There's more exquisite lines of dialogue in this film than you can shake a stick at, and numerous clever little vignettes or montages that should satisfy the cinema lover in anyone. Hell, the hula-hoop sequence alone is worth the price of admission. |
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Fargo (1996)
That's Fargo, Minnesota, and it's cold up there. The cinematography in this film (by the always reliable Roger Deakens) is superbly done. Snow never seemed so cold from your armchair as when you see all that white up there on the screen. It's one of the most difficult tasks to accomplish for a cinematographer and Deakens pulls it off with aplomb. Steve Buscemi as an inept kidnapper, and Frances McDormand as a doggedly persistent and heavily pregnant cop are both excellent here - McDormand winning a well deserved Oscar for her trouble. But for me, at least as far as the performances go, this is William H. Macey's film; his turn as Jerry Lundergaard, who arranges for his own wife to be kidnapped to raise money to pay his debts is a treat to watch. He squirms better than almost anyone when he's trapped - like a rabbit caught in the headlights. Kidnapping is a common theme in Coen Brothers films, and it's played out brilliantly here. There's a delicate balance between serious drama and comedy here that it seems like only the Coen brothers could pull off so well. If you were looking to become a screenwriter for a living you'd be hard pressed to find a better script to study and emulate. The structure, pacing and dialogue are all beyond reproach and serve to advance the narrative in a natural and believable way (even though some of the events are outlandish). |
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The Big Lebowski (1998)
Now we're getting to the meat and potatoes of the thing. This is the single most unadulteratedly enjoyable and accomplished film to date for the Coen brothers, and the point where everything they've been doing in different genres all comes together in a perfect package. Once again, there's kidnapping afoot and it's up to ultra-slacker Jeff Lebowski - an inspired turn by Jeff Bridges - to sort the whole mess out. This film features performances to die for from what has become the Coens' stock players; John Goodman and Steve Buscemi as Lebowski's slightly deranged friends and John Turturro as an hispanic paedophile that will have you in stitches. In addition Philip Seymour Hoffman shines brightly as a toadying personal assistant, Julianne Moore is a hoot as a nymphomaniac with artistic pretensions, and even Ben Gazzarra pops up as porn mogul(!) Jackie Treehorn - and what a great name that is for a porn mogul. As if that's not enough there's a Busby Berkeley type musical production number which is absolutely inspired, the script is clever and articulate when it's not busy being hilariously funny and satirical, the plot's well conceived and executesd, and as usual the whole thing looks tremendous too. I could watch this film every day and never get bored. |
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O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
Perhaps the only film that could have lived up to the standard the Coen Brothers set themselves with The Big Lebowski, this one is just as perfect. Loosley based on Homer's Odyssey this plays like a cross between Miller's Crossing, Raising Arizona and Fargo, if you can imagine such a thing. George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson feature as escaped convicts trying to put as much distance between them and their captors as possible, and find some hidden treasure while being pursued by a relentless lawman. At the same time they manage to record a hit single, take a ride with Babyface Nelson, pick up a hitch-hiking Robert Johnson, disband the local KKK, and change the result of the state elections. Once again the whole thing is sumptious to look at, with some interesting use of digital colour correction technology. The soundtrack by T Bone Burnett is memorable, with some interesting period pieces combined with contemporary artist's renditions of traditional songs - the Alison Krauss version of Down To The River is perfect, and the Soggy Bottom Boys hit Man of Constant Sorrow is spot on, and hilariously performed by the three leads at one point. Then there are the inspired performances from everyone in the film, from the smallest walk on to the three central roles. It was especially enjoyable to bask in Charles Durning's role of Pappy O'Daniel - the governor chasing re-election. |
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No Country For Old Men (2007)
The Coen Brothers make two types of films - broad comedy a la Raising Arizona, The Hudsucker Proxy, Big Lebowski and O Brother Where Art Thou? and crime or noir films like Blood Simple, Miller's Crossing, Fargo, and The Man Who Wasn't There. These are their best films, but their recent output has been a little disappointing. Well, the Coen Brothers are back on top form with No Country For Old Men. This is a bloody tale of greed, survival, fate, and revenge and it's a tale told with an absolute mastery of the cinematic craft. Nobody working in American cinema right now can touch the Coens for sheer overall quality when they're on their game and this is their best film since O Brother Where Art Thou? In fact it's their most accomplished film to date. Josh Brolin puts in a solid performance as a Texan who stumbles across a drug deal gone wrong and a great deal of money, and Javier Bardem is fabulous as a psychotic and utterly single-minded hitman on his trail. Tommy Lee Jones is also excellent as an old cop on the verge of retirement who just can't keep up with the evils in the world. This film is much more lyrical than your average crime caper, due to the source material by Cormac McCarthy and the attunement the Coens obviously have to it. Jones's musings on the nature of evil and his place in the world give this film a poetic dimension and the cat and mouse situation between Brolin and Bardem is nerve-wracking. All in all this is bravura filmmaking - I want to watch it again right now. Masterpiece. |
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Burn After Reading (2008)
Once again the Coens have come up with a slick, knowing and thoroughly enjoyable take on an established genre of filmmaking and subverted it inside out just for the hell of it. This is a lovely little spy comedy that's typical of your Coen Brothers Lite production. Disgruntled CIA agent John Malkovich decides to write some tell-all memoirs of his time with the agency, a back-up disc of which soon ends up in the hands of two unscrupulous gym employees who attempt first to blackmail him then when that fails to sell it to the Russians (who don't seem too interested). This is chock full of delicious performances, from well-known stars like the goofy Brad Pitt, hyper George Clooney and pompous John Malkovich to less well-known but just as effective turns from the likes of Richard Jenkins, Tilda Swinton and a magnificent J.K. Simmons who just keeps getting better every time I see him. The scenes featuring Simmons trying to keep track of where everyone is, who's killing who and what he's supposed to do about it all are absolutely priceless. Burn After Reading is slight, knockabout comedy but it's still head and shoulders above your average movie and proves, if any further proof were needed, that the brothers Coen are pretty much incapable of putting out a bad film, no matter what genre they're playing around with. |
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A Serious Man (2009)
The Coen Brothers' Grand Jewish Epic. Confidently directed, sharply written, minutely observed, brilliantly acted, gorgeous to look at (will someone please give poor Roger Deakens an Oscar already). What else could you possibly want from a film? A definitive resolution? Sorry - that's not part of the deal with the Coens, and one of the strengths in their work, I think. The film starts off with a kind of parable which may at first seem unrelated to the rest of the film, but is actually integral to the piece. A middle-aged Jewish couple are visited by a man thought to have died years previously. The women thinks he is a 'dybbuk' - a demon or curse-bringer, and she stabs him in the heart. He leaves, presumably to die, and forever more the couple will ascribe all the terrible things which may happen in their lives to this event. The rest of the film follows Larry Gopnik - a physics professor and family man whose life is about to unfold in a hundred different ways - testing his resolve to live an honest and decent life. As Larry himself states midway through the film, 'actions have consequences', and this is at the heart of what this film is about. Can Larry rise above his travails and remain true to his principles? What terrible consequences await him should he fail to do the right thing? I reckon this is a film that will improve on second viewing because the first viewing offers much food for thought, in addition to all its other qualities. One of the best films this year and a great addition to the Coens already brilliant body of work. |
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True Grit (2010)
The Coen Brothers do a western! It's a remake, granted, but still. Young Mattie Ross (a very good performance by Hailey Steinfeld) seeks revenge on the outlaw who killed her father, and enlists the help of an aging marshall to bring him to justice. This is just as enjoyable as the Coens' other films and is at times a shot for shot remake of the Henry Hathaway original, featuring John Wayne. It's funny - thanks mostly to a great performance from an on form Jeff Bridges in the Rooster Cogburn role, and as with every Coen brothers film all the performances are spot on. The same attention to dialogue is here as in the original, most of which is peculiarly stilted when your average person is talking out on the range - maybe they're not used to talking much - and at other times it's deliciously wordy; the scene where Mattie is haggling with the horse trader is a delight. So, is it worth checking this out if you're familiar with the original? I would say so, although if you really disliked the original the only thing that could make you turn around with this one is if you much preferred the performances this time round. As far as acting goes I'll take Jeff Bridges over John Wayne and Matt Damon over Glen Campbell any day. In fact Damon's character may be the most interesting out of all the main cast. Technically this is as polished as you'd expect, with Roger Deakens once again providing some interesting cinematography but really the bottom line is that this is a lot of fun. And judging by how good this is I can't help wondering what they could have done with an original story within the western genre. |
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