I'm not sure if I can call myself a Coen brothers fan. I enjoy most of their movies, but the only one I've been blown away by is Fargo. Their comedies have some laughs in them (usually one huge one at the end, especially the more modern ones). So I guess I'm not a huge Coen aficionado. But they do make interesting films, and one of them is Barton Fink, released in 1991. Set in the early 1940s, it's symbolic, metaphoric, heavyhanded and occasionally boring. Not to mention confusing. At least John Goodman was in it.
Barton Fink (John Turturro) is a somewhat successful playwright who is offered a job in Hollywood to write a B-movie, a wrestling picture. Living in a small hotel, he becomes friends with Charlie (John Goodman), his next-door neighbor. Barton gets writer's block and falls for his mentor's girlfriend (Judy Davis). Then mysterious events occur.
Much like many movies of the early 1990s, Barton Fink isn't really exciting, it's just non-boring for the most part. There's nothing really in it that could really be considered exciting. There's some symbolism, like the wallpaper and the shot of the drain, but visually it's nothing really that new or breathtaking. Sure, there's the Hell references about the place where Barton stays, but the movie needs more than that to keep the viewer interested in its overlong two hour runtime. But like I've said, it's not boring, just non-exciting. Any movie with John Goodman in it can't be all bad, and it definitely isn't.
The look at Hollywood in its emerging years is pretty fun to look at, however, and Barton's story is interesting enough. The Coens wrote enough about each character so we could get to know them and their exploits. Granted, some of the subplots went nowhere, and some came out of nowhere (much like the Coens to do, also). The great cast, though, saves the movie. We have Turturro, Goodman, Davis, Tony Shalhoub, Steve Buscemi, typical Coen actors. Each of them put something into Barton Fink to make it just a little more eccentric. If that's possible. Barton Fink is such an odd movie, I think that I'd recommend it to die-hard Coen fans. Not even semi-fans like myself, just the people who think that The Dude is a prophet. At least John Goodman's in it.
My rating: 6/10
Rated R for language.
Barton Fink (John Turturro) is a somewhat successful playwright who is offered a job in Hollywood to write a B-movie, a wrestling picture. Living in a small hotel, he becomes friends with Charlie (John Goodman), his next-door neighbor. Barton gets writer's block and falls for his mentor's girlfriend (Judy Davis). Then mysterious events occur.
Much like many movies of the early 1990s, Barton Fink isn't really exciting, it's just non-boring for the most part. There's nothing really in it that could really be considered exciting. There's some symbolism, like the wallpaper and the shot of the drain, but visually it's nothing really that new or breathtaking. Sure, there's the Hell references about the place where Barton stays, but the movie needs more than that to keep the viewer interested in its overlong two hour runtime. But like I've said, it's not boring, just non-exciting. Any movie with John Goodman in it can't be all bad, and it definitely isn't.
The look at Hollywood in its emerging years is pretty fun to look at, however, and Barton's story is interesting enough. The Coens wrote enough about each character so we could get to know them and their exploits. Granted, some of the subplots went nowhere, and some came out of nowhere (much like the Coens to do, also). The great cast, though, saves the movie. We have Turturro, Goodman, Davis, Tony Shalhoub, Steve Buscemi, typical Coen actors. Each of them put something into Barton Fink to make it just a little more eccentric. If that's possible. Barton Fink is such an odd movie, I think that I'd recommend it to die-hard Coen fans. Not even semi-fans like myself, just the people who think that The Dude is a prophet. At least John Goodman's in it.
My rating: 6/10
Rated R for language.