Review of Barton Fink (1991) by Ken R — 25 Aug 2010

Now I can see where A Serious Man came from. The story goes that the Coen Brothers penned this film while suffering writers block on Miller's Crossing. I totally believe that. Miller's Crossing contained a depth of plot that knows few equals in Hollywood, particularly as far as gangster films are concerned.

So how do you treat a particularly bad case of block? By writing a film about writer's block where all of the worst possible things happen to a writer. This writer (John Turturro) just wrote a play that makes him the toast of New York, so he takes a contract in Hollywood writing films to help fund his true passionate subjects later. And then he gets stuck writing a B wrestling picture, when wrestling is the last thing he knows anything about. Even though he claims to write for the "common man", all of his speechifying and his complicated thoughts show how isolated he is. And boy does he pay the price!

*Spoilers*.

Everybody he knows dies and his helpful neighbor, a wonderful John Goodman, turns into the personified wrath of the common man, a demonic figure followed by fire who shows Fink where he really went wrong. And on top of all that, the studio HATES his pretentious script and keeps him under contract while publishing nothing, effectively burying him and ending his career.

It reminds me of David Lynch's Eraserhead, written out of fear of becoming a father it takes the absolute worst thing that could happen to a new dad and projects it on screen. Barton Fink is the same way. What's the worst that could happen if Joel and Ethan can't finish the script? Well, everybody they know could die and their careers could be ruined forever. Cool!