Review of Barton Fink (1991) by Jenna I — 29 Aug 2010

I love the Coen brothers. Their blend of surreal comedy with a few pinches of darker material here and there is infallible, and this one, released after the somewhat aimless Raising Arizona, shows them really getting into the style that they would adopt in the future with movies like The Big Lebowski and Burn After Reading: bewildered characters thrust into crazy situations that keep getting weirder and wackier as the movie goes on.

John Turturro's performance is really good here, as he often has to carry scenes all by himself, but the real treat is John Goodman. I won't spoil his part in this whole thing, but it's really, really funny, in a really, really dark way.

Barton Fink is another noteworthy chapter in the saga of the Coens, and you should check it out if you have any taste at all.