Review of The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018) by Glenn G — 15 Jan 2019

THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS (4 Stars).

In this anthology of short Westerns, the Coen Brothers mine the subject of death for all it's worth, producing a thrilling, at times hilarious, ominous, tragic, dazzlingly shot experience. While I loved each segment, Zoe Kazan broke my heart as a single woman on a wagon train searching for a way to pay her driver in "The Gal Who Got Rattled". Tim Blake Nelson uses his physicality and down-home country chops to create the disarmingly dangerous title character, and Tom Waits has the final word on playing grizzled as a gold miner who just might be digging his own grave. Liam Neeson has one chilling moment you won't soon forget and James Franco, who looked just like Dominic West in his opening tight closeup, has the best line in the bunch when he looks over at his fellow doomed man next to him. Each story is preceded by a a drawing, the title, and a few key words, and it's fun to find out how they play into the story to follow. The Coen Brothers, no surprise here, are among the greatest absurdist storytellers of our time, and with these cohesive, beautiful films, they show subtlety and great heart.