Review of Barton Fink (1991) by Henk E — 21 Apr 2009

This is probably my favourite of all the Coen Brothers movies... overlooked by many!

The movie is clearly not meant for mainstream audiences and moves along at a snail's pace, but it is so atmospherically layered one can almost smell the musty, dusty, rotting walls of the room the main character finds himself in. The art direction is out of this world, as they have created a 1940's world I've never seen! And the writing (Like all Coen brothers movies) is top notch... filled with all the weird and wacky characters you'd expect in place.

John Turturro is great as the out of sorts writer with writers block, but John Goodman steals the show as the psychopath insurance salesman who befriends him... a great performance.

All-in-all... a great piece of cinema!