Review of Barton Fink (1991) by Harry W — 18 Oct 2013

What Joel and Ethan Coen provide to the film industry in Barton Fink is a simple story based on the writers block The Coen Brothers faced during production of Miller's Crossing. The script is clever, and the plot is very simple, so what is required to make it work is good direction, a creative film style and a talented cast.

Barton Fink is bereft of none of these things, and proves to be an Academy Award nominated artistic breakthrough for The Coen Brothers.

Written over the timespan of 3 weeks, Barton Fink features an insightful script which delves into the depth of characters faced with writers block, shame and the simple disrespect of being a human being. It conveys these messages by taking its basic plot and fulling it with in depth dynamics from a meaningful script which gives plenty of character insight and depth to the figures on screen, and it makes Barton Fink an excellent display of the human mind.

And full of the stylistic direction that The Coen Brothers always manage to supply, Barton Fink is a simple artistic piece which benefits from their skills as filmmakers.

And bravado performances keep it alive.

As an embodiment of the writers block the directors were faced with whilst writing Miller's Crossing, John Tuturro gives an excellent lead performance as a deep and meaningful writer faced in a challenging world full of fears. He constantly has a facial expression that makes it look like he is in serious thought and developing a great idea for his script, yet balancing it with a sense of uncertainty. His embodiment of The Coen Brothers themselves is a powerful performance, one of his career's best.

But John Goodman completely steals the screen in Barton Fink. His portrayal of a psychologically tormented everyman pushed over the edge by society is so organic and ripe with John Goodman's talent for aggression and deep meaning in line delivery. His passion as an actor is on full display in Barton Fink, and it's wonderful to behold as some of his finest effort.

Michael Lerner was also good although needing more screen time, and John Mahoney supplied a genial presence and strong performance.

Steve Buscemi was also good, and Jon Polito was talented as always.

So Barton Fink proves to be a well constructed and cleverly written piece which shows off the fact that even in the difficult situation of writers block, The Coen Brothers can craft an excellent film.