Celebrity (1998 film)

Written and directed by Woody Allen, Celebrity is the story about a divorcing couple that both take on two different paths of their lives where both find themselves immersing into the world of celebrity culture. The film is an exploration into that world where two people go into different paths to see what will happen after this encounter with this world. Starring Kenneth Branagh, Judy Davis, Leonardo diCaprio, Charlize Theron, Hank Azaria, Winona Ryder, Joe Mantegna, Melanie Griffith, Bebe Neuwirth, and Michael Lerner. Celebrity is a stylish though very messy film from Woody Allen.

The film explores the world of a divorced couple who both go into very different paths outside of their marriage. Lee Simon (Kenneth Branagh) was a travel writer who turns into a celebrity journalist as he ventures into the world celebrity culture while trying to work on a novel in the hopes to gain a career as a writer. For his insecure ex-wife Robin (Judy Davis), she quits being a schoolteacher as she tries to find a new place in life where she eventually works for a TV producer named Tony Gardella (Joe Mantegna) as she falls for him. The paths these two would take would have not just some major impact in their personal lives but also the path they would both take in this messy world of film premieres, parties, theaters, gatherings, and all sorts of thing in that world that is celebrity culture.

While it’s an interesting concept, Woody Allen’s screenplay unfortunately loses some of its luster in the second act where not only does the journeys of Lee and Robin become repetitive but their neuroses would also play into their troubles as that would become grating to watch. The script’s narrative does move back-and-forth into the different storylines of Lee and Robin in the paths they take though their storylines would coincide in brief moments. Most of it would play into their dramatic development over their split as those moments are told in flashbacks such as Lee’s decision to end the marriage and why did he did he decide to pursue a career in writing in his 40s after attending his high school reunion. A lot of the first act is interesting but it loses some steam in the second while it does have an interesting third act to see the outcome of the paths they took.

Allen’s direction is quite stylish as he aims for something that is timeless in its black-and-white photography as it would recalls some of his early films from the 1980s. Notably in the compositions and camera movements that he creates as it has this amazing opening of a plane writing the word “help” in the sky for a film. While many of Allen’s compositions are gorgeous, some of the humor doesn’t seem to work as it relies too much on characters acting awkward to their situations where the comedy feels a bit forced instead of natural. At the same time, the situations that occur starts to wear thin to the point that the outcome is sort of predictable. Overall, Allen creates a film that has an interesting concept but loses steam due to its predictability and over-emphasis on neurotic characters in a culture they know little about.

Cinematographer Sven Nykvist does amazing work with the film‘s gorgeous black-and-white photography that has this air of style in its look that is timeless as well as playing to some of air of pretentiousness that is common with art films. Editor Susan E. Morse does nice work with the editing in the way the story is structured as well as a few moments in the film‘s drama. Production designer Santo Loquasto, with set decorator Susan Kaufman and art director Tom Warren, do terrific work with the set pieces from the look of the runways and parties to the home of Lee.

Costume designer Suzy Benzinger does wonderful work with the costumes from the many stylish clothes of the models and the young people that Lee hangs around with to the more loose clothing of Robin early in the film. Sound editor Robert Hein does excellent work with the sound from the atmosphere of the party scenes to the intimate moments in the apartment and such. The film’s soundtrack consists of classical and jazz music from the Dave Brubeck Quartet, Ludwig Van Beethoven, Billie Holliday, Stan Getz, the Gershwin Brothers, and Richard Wagner to play up the world of that culture to give the film a romantic feel.

The casting by Laura Rosenthal and Juliet Taylor is brilliant for the ensemble that is created as well as the cameos that are made as it includes appearances from Donald Trump, supermodels Frederique and Roshumba, filmmaker Greg Mottola as a director in the film’s opening sequence, Andre Gregory as an art house filmmaker, Karen Duffy and Debra Messing as TV reporters, J.K. Simmons as a souvenir salesman, Alison Janney and Celia Weston as socialites, Tony Sirico as a mob guy who is supposed to appear on a TV show, Isaac Mizrahi as an artist, Jeffrey Wright as an off-Broadway theater director, Sam Rockwell and Adrian Grenier as entourage guys for actor Brandon Darrow, Gretchen Mol as Darrow’s girlfriend, David Marguiles as an alderman, Kate Burton as Robin’s friend Cheryl, Dylan Baker as a Catholic retreat priest, Douglas McGrath as a novelist, Larry Pine as a publisher, Aida Turturro as a fortune teller, and Hank Azaria as a date of an aspiring actress named Nola.

Bebe Neuwirth is excellent as a famed prostitute named Nina who teaches Robin how to pleasure someone sexually while Michael Lerner is funny as a famed plastic surgeon named Dr. Lupus. Famke Janssen is terrific as the publisher Bonnie whom Lee dates while Melanie Griffith is very good as the actress Nicole Oliver whom Lee hangs out with early in the film. Winona Ryder is superb as the aspiring actress Nola whom Lee falls for while Charlize Theron is amazing as a supermodel Lee hangs out with as they get into some trouble. Leonardo DiCaprio is great as the young actor Brandon Darrow as he displays all of the traits of a bad boy actor. Joe Mantegna is wonderful as TV producer Tony Gardella whom Robin falls for as he becomes the guy that can help her.

Judy Davis is fantastic as Robin as a former English schoolteacher whose life worsens following her divorce with Lee as she becomes more insecure and neurotic as she tries to figure out what to do with her life while meeting Tony as Davis brings some humor and dramatic weight despite some of the repetitiveness of her character. Finally, there’s Kenneth Branagh in an absolutely horrible performance as Lee. Branagh can do comedy but in trying to impersonate the personas that Woody Allen has played in his many films just doesn’t work. It comes off as a very bad impression of Allen where the awkwardness feels forced while Branagh doesn’t do enough to make his character sympathetic as he ends up being a real scumbag.

Celebrity is a really terrible film from Woody Allen. Despite a remarkable performance from Judy Davis as well as wonderful ensemble, the film is hampered by its messy storyline as well as Kenneth Branagh’s poor leading performance. While there’s moments in the film that are very engaging that includes Sven Nykvist’s cinematography, the overall results are just very disappointing. In the end, Celebrity is just a dreadful film from Woody Allen.

Woody Allen Films: What's Up Tiger Lily? - Take the Money and Run - Bananas - Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) - Sleeper - Love and Death - Annie Hall - Interiors - Manhattan - Stardust Memories - A Midsummer's Night Sex Comedy - Zelig - Broadway Danny Rose - The Purple Rose of Cairo - Hannah & Her Sisters - Radio Days - September - Another Woman - New York Stories: Oedipus Wrecks - Crimes & Misdemeanors - Alice - Shadows and Fog - Husbands and Wives - Manhattan Murder Mystery - Bullets Over Broadway - Don't Drink the Water - Mighty Aphrodite - Everyone Says I Love You - Deconstructing Harry - Sweet and Lowdown - Small Time Crooks - The Curse of the Jade Scorpion - Hollywood Ending - Anything Else - Melinda & Melinda - Match Point - Scoop - Cassandra’s Dream - Vicky Cristina Barcelona - Whatever Works - You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger - Midnight in Paris - To Rome with Love - Blue Jasmine - Magic in the Moonlight - Irrational Man - (Cafe Society)

The Auteurs #24: Woody Allen Pt. 1 - Pt. 2 - Pt. 3 - Pt. 4

© thevoid99 2013

A Serious Man

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 11/22/09 w/ Additional Edits.

Written, produced, and directed by Joel & Ethan Coen, A Serious Man tells the story of a physics professor whose ideal life of bliss is shattered when his wife divorces him, his children treat him with disrespect, his brother living at his home, and his work as a teacher causes him to raise question about his life. The film is set in the summer of 1967 at a Jewish community in Minnesota where the Coen Brothers grew up as it examines a man's faith being tested as well as his belief on how he should live. Starring Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Fyvush Finkel, Sari Lennick, Fred Melamed, Adam Arkin, George Wyner, Amy Landecker, and Coen Brothers associates Katherine Borowitz, Steve Park, and Michael Lerner. A Serious Man is a witty yet harrowing film from the Coen Brothers.

It's 1967 at a Jewish suburb in Minnesota where a physics professor named Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) lives with his family that includes his wife Judith (Sari Lennick) and their two children in daughter Sarah (Jessica MacManus) and son Danny (Aaron Wolff), the latter of whom is about to have a Bar Mitzvah. Also living at the house to the annoyance of the family is Larry's troubled brother Arthur (Richard Kind) who has been making secret trips to the bathroom lately. Larry feels he's been doing what he's supposed to do in life but doesn't get appreciated by his kids while his marriage is losing steam. At a nearby college where Larry works at, a Korean student named Clive (David Kang) goes to his office over what he felt was an unfair grade where an envelope of money was left.

Larry's life begins to unravel as Clive's bribe starts to threaten a possible tenure that he's worked hard for. A friend named Sy Ableman (Fred Melamed) comes to Larry's home where it's revealed that Judith is leaving Larry for Sy and wants a ritual divorce so she can marry Sy in the traditional Jewish faith. With Sarah stealing money for a nose job and more concerned about her hair while Danny is dealing with a bully (Jon Kaminski Jr.) over owed money and is more concerned about the TV reception rather than his Hebrew studies. Larry and Arthur move to a nearby motel as Larry is bewildered by Arthur's troubled state of mind as well as complex number problems that all has to do with science.

After talking to a sympathetic attorney in Don Milgram (Adam Arkin), Larry goes to three visits with different rabbis over his personal and existential troubles. The first was a young junior rabbi in Scott Ginzler (Simon Helberg) whose guidance was unhelpful. After a tragic incident involving the Gopnik family, Larry turns to Rabbi Nachtner (George Wyner) tells a strange story about a dentist (Michael Tezla) obsessed with the model of a man's teeth that featured a Hebrew message. Faced with money problems and a spiritual crisis along with mounting legal troubles with Arthur getting trouble with the authorities. Larry has a brief encounter with a sexy neighbor in Mrs. Samsky (Amy Landecker) where Larry discovers marijuana for the first time. At the urgency of Milgram, Larry tries to have a meeting with an aging rabbi named Marshak (Alan Mandell) as his spiritual and existential troubles would finally collide as the day to Danny's Bar Mitzvah moves closer.

The Coen Brothers are always known for tackling certain environments and situations that goes on around them whether it's humorous or very dark. With this film, it's a mixture of both but from a more personal point of view as the Coen Brothers go back in time to 1967 in Minnesota where they grew up as kids. Particularly with their Jewish background and days at Hebrew school. Yet, the film is about a lot of things including existentialism and spirituality. The film begins with a strange story about a cursed couple (Allen Lewis Rickman & Yelena Shmulenson) in an old time who meets a strange man (Fyvush Finkel) where the woman claims the man died three years ago. The little story, presented in a full-screen ratio would set the stage of what is to come.

A lot of the ideas and turmoil that Larry Gopnik faces is all based on the story of Job. A man who had everything and then loses everything. The Coen Brothers have Larry be challenged that is all around him. A disgruntled student angry over a failing grade as he tries to bribe him and later, threaten to sue him. An intimidating neighbor (Peter Breitmayer) who is trying to build something near Larry's property line. A failing marriage as the wife goes to a man who has more to offer. Children who are disrespectful. A selfish yet troubled brother and a possible tenure that is threatened. All of this puts Larry Gopnik into a crisis that he is facing as he is losing everything while trying to deal with what he can.

The script is truly complex with elements of humor and drama while there's small moments of violent scenes all of which are fantasy. Yet, it's all about Larry and his fears of what could happen as he faces the loss of everything he's worked for and believed in. At the same time, there's little subplot that revolves around Larry's life as his brother is a man who could be a genius but lacks any social skills while Larry's son is dealing with a bully whom he owes money to.

The direction of the Coen Brothers is truly spectacular in its intimate setting and unique compositions. The recreation of 1967 Minnesota looks very beautiful with great detail as the Coen Brothers take everyone back in time. The camera angles and compositions, a lot of which are quintessential Coen Brothers in their trademark is definitely stylish but also engaging. From the first 10-15 minutes of the film where it is set at a very different world and time with a full-screen theatrical presentation ratio. The rest of the film has a look and feel that is the late 1960s with a lot of music and objects including a great scene where Larry and Mrs. Samsky gets stoned. While there's a few anachronisms over a couple albums by Santana and Creedence Clearwater Revival from 1970 and a song by Jimi Hendrix that was recorded after 1967.

Those are minor since it's all about a certain time and what is happening. Even in the way the Coen Brothers wrap things up that features an ending that really challenges convention. The abrupt ending is really an allusion to a conversation Larry would have with a rabbi about the way things work in life. What the Coen Brothers create is a challenging yet personal film about spirituality and existentialism that is complex but also rewarding in what is needed to be said. It can be interpreted quite simply whether it matters or not. It's all about open interpretation as the Coen Brothers create what is definitely one of their finest films to date.

After taking a break from the Coen Brothers by not doing work on their previous film Burn After Reading, cinematographer Roger Deakins returns to the fold in creating some of his best camera work for the duo. Deakins' colorful look of 1967 Minnesota is full of life while the opening scene is done with intimate, dark colors and a chilling feel that is beautiful. The work for the interior and exterior shots are brilliant as Deakins definitely has a lot to work with while putting out some weird, fuzzy shots for some of the stoned sequences of the film.

The Coen Brothers, under their Roderick Jaynes pseudonym, does some excellent work in the editing as they give the film a nice, leisurely-paced feel while slowing things down for dramatic tension. The use of smooth transitions and rhythmic cuts work in conveying the sense of drama and turmoil over Larry's emotional crisis as it features a great parallel scene between Larry and Sy in their cars. Production designer Jess Gonchor along with set decorator Nancy Haigh and art director Deborah Jensen do a phenomenal job with the look of the film from the use of 1960s car, objects, and radio transistors to help give the film a 1960s feel and tone.

Longtime Coen Brothers collaborator in costume designer Mary Zophres does great work in the look of the clothing that the characters wear. From the rabbi garbs and Hebrew hats the Jewish community wears to the 1960s dresses and clothes that the women wear. All of which has an authentic look that is fascinating as Zophres deserves a lot of commendation for her work. Another key Coen Brothers collaborator in sound editor Skip Lievsay along with sound designer Craig Berkey also do great work in the sound department. From the waves of sound in the antenna to the atmosphere of the synagogues and places that Larry is at as the sound work is truly spectacular.

Longtime Coen Brothers collaborator and music composer Carter Burwell creates an eerie yet beautiful score that revels in the dark atmosphere of the film as well as its dramatic tone. With a light but also heavy orchestral score, Burwell arranges them in an understated tone as it's a score piece that is truly eerie. The soundtrack of the film is filled with a lot of 1960s music, notably the Jefferson Airplane that begins with Somebody To Love and three other tracks while Jimi Hendrix's Machine Gun also appears in the film for a dramatic-heavy scene.

The casting longtime Coen Brothers collaborator Ellen Chenoweth with Rachel Tenner is truly amazing with the use of mostly unknown actors. Cameo appearances from such Coen Brothers associates like Steve Park as Clive's father, Katherine Borowitz as a friend of Larry's at a picnic, and Michael Lerner as an associate of Milgram are fun to watch. Notable small roles that are definitely memorable from their look and appearances include Tim Russell & Jim Lichtscheidl as detectives, Warren Keith as the voice of a Columbia Records music shop worker Dick Dutton, Claudia Wilkens as Rabbi Marshak's secretary, Michael Tezla as a dentist, Peter Breitmayer as an intimidating neighbor who could be an anti-Semite, Jon Kaminski Jr. as Danny's bully Mike Fagle, and Benjy Portnoe as Danny's stoner buddy. In the first scene of the film, Allen Lewis Rickman & Yelena Shmulenson are great as a couple believed to be curse while Fyvush Finkle is hilarious as a man who is believed to be dead.

Adam Arkin is very good as Larry's sympathetic divorce lawyer Don Milgram while David Kang is also good as the slimy, vengeful Korean student Clive. Amy Landecker is excellent as the seductive yet cool Mrs. Samsky while Alan Mandell is funny as the aging Rabbi Marshak that includes a hilarious scene with Larry's son. Simon Helberg and George Wyner are great in their respective roles of weird rabbis with the young Helberg as a laid-back junior rabbi while Wyner has a scene-stealing moment as an unconventional rabbi. Jessica MacManus and Aaron Wolff are wonderful as two of Larry's kids with MacManus as the mean Saran and Wolff as the secretive Danny who often complains about the TV reception.

Richard Kind is very good as the troubled yet selfish Arthur who likes to sleep in basements and take advantage of his brother's goodwill while is revealed to a man with such brilliance but a lack of social skills. Sari Lennick is great as Judith, Larry's wife who is tired of Larry and wants something new in Sy as she is a woman wanting a change. Fred Melamed is fantastic as Sy Ableman, a man who doesn't take things very seriously while being someone who really does care about Larry despite what he's doing to him as Melamed is truly a scene-stealer throughout the entire film. Finally, there's Michael Stuhlbarg in a breakthrough performance as Larry Gopnik. A God-fearing man whose life unravels through changes as he tries to confront all that is happening to him. Stuhlbarg, who is known primarily as a theater actor, definitely rise up to the challenge as he creates a character that is memorable and relatable while providing questions and answer about what happens when everything is taken away.

A Serious Man is definitely one of the Coen Brothers' best films of their career as it is a provocative film that challenges spirituality and existentialism. Featuring a great cast led by Michael Stuhlbarg and amazing technical work from several of the Coen Brothers' regular collaborators. It's a film that reaches the heights of classics like Barton Fink, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, and No Country for Old Men. While some audiences might be a little confused or put off by the Coen Brothers' quirky sense of humor and ability to asks questions rather than give answers. It's a film that is a very high-brow piece of art that won't be for everyone since it demands a lot of patience and interpretation from the audience about what they just saw. While it may not be one of their more accessible films, A Serious Man is another winning achievement from the Coen Brothers.

Coen Brothers Films: Blood Simple - Raising Arizona - Miller's Crossing - Barton Fink - The Hudsucker Proxy - Fargo - The Big Lebowski - O Brother, Where Art Thou? - The Man Who Wasn't There - Intolerable Cruelty - The Ladykillers (2004 film) - Paris Je T'aime-Tuileries - To Each His Own Cinema-World Cinema - No Country for Old Men - Burn After Reading - True Grit (2010 film) - Inside Llewyn Davis - Hail, Caesar! - The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

The Auteurs #9: The Coen Brothers Pt. 1 - The Auteurs #9: The Coen Brothers Pt. 2

© thevoid99 2012

Barton Fink

Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, Barton Fink is the story of a pre-World War II playwright who moves to Hollywood to write a script for a B-movie studio. During his stay in a Hollywood hotel, he encounters strange oddities as well as individuals who help shape the script as faces pressures to give in to the trappings of Hollywood. The film explores the world of the writer and his attempt to create something meaningful in a world where he’s writing to satisfy others. Playing the titular character is John Turturro in his second collaboration with the Coen Brothers. Also starring John Goodman, Judy Davis, Michael Lerner, John Mahoney, Steve Buscemi, Tony Shalhoub, and Jon Polito. Barton Fink is an extraordinary film from the Coen Brothers.

After scoring another hit on Broadway, playwright Barton Fink becomes a success as he tries not to take the praise seriously. His friend Garland Stanford (David Warrilow) asks Fink to go to Hollywood for a week to write a script for the B-movie studio Capitol Pictures to the tune of $1000. Fink isn’t sure thinking it would betray everything he writes about but eventually decides to as he checks into a strange hotel run by a resourceful bellhop named Chet (Steve Buscemi). Meeting with studio head Jack Lipnick (Michael Lerner) and his assistant Lou Breeze (Jon Polito), Fink is asked to write a movie about pro wrestling as Fink has no clue about the world of pro wrestling. He later meets with fast-talking producer Ben Geisler (Tony Shalhoub) about what to do with a pro wrestling film.

At the hotel, Fink meets his neighbor in a big traveling salesman named Charlie Meadows (John Goodman) as the two become friends while Meadows help Fink out with the world of pro wrestling. Despite dealing with writer’s block and overwhelmed with meeting Geisler, Fink bumps into famed novelist W.P. Mayhew (John Mahoney) as the two have lunch the next day with Mayhew’s secretary/lover Audrey Taylor (Judy Davis). The lunch is a disaster due to Mayhew’s alcoholism as Fink continues to deal with writer’s block and more meetings with Lipnick and Geisler. At one particular night, Audrey visits him at his hotel as she reveals to Fink some secrets about Mayhew as she helps him with his script.

Later that morning, something bad happens as Fink asks for Meadows’ help where Meadows manages to take care of things while revealing he had to leave for New York for business. Fink becomes inspired to write a script as he later deals with two detectives named Mastrionotti (Richard Portnow) and Deustch (Christopher Murney) who are looking for a madman named Mundt. Fink finds himself in trouble as he tries to come to terms with his role as a writer.

The film is essentially about a playwright who writes about the common man going to Hollywood where he would be compromised as he deals with writer’s block and encounter strange things in the seedy hotel that he’s staying in. Among them is this mysterious neighbor who makes loud noises while would help him explore the world of pro wrestling that he’s supposed to write about. It is a film about writing and how writers try to put their own voice into a story when someone is telling them that they’re supposed to do this and that. It’s also an exploration into the world of writer’s block as the film’s titular character deals with it head on because he has no idea how to write for other people when he was known for writing for himself.

The screenplay that Joel and Ethan Coen create explores a man being compromised while he would also meet another revered writer whom he’s fond of only to realize that he’s not the man that he idolized. Notably as his secretary would reveal secrets that would further destroy that myth as she would help Barton Fink find his voice into writing this screenplay about wrestling. What the Coen Brothers also do is create this world where the writer is believed to be king but they’re only to serve a higher purpose for a studio as Fink would have a hard time trying to find voice in this world that he is so foreign to while he wants to remain grounded and not give in to adulation. The script is a character study about a man’s motivation to be a writer while dealing with all sorts of trapping in being loved by critics but also have Hollywood build him up only to anticipate tearing him down.

The direction of the Coen Brothers is truly a marvel to watch in the way they create the world of 1940s pre-World War II Hollywood as they show a contrasting world of where Barton Fink is. Whereas Fink lives in this very dilapidated hotel where wallpapers are peeling off the wall, mosquitoes appear quite often, and there’s annoying bellhop who is often to helpful named Chet. The world that he steps into is very rich and there’s a lot out there as it’s to exemplify the world that Fink could be apart of he just writes for what they want him to do. This establishment of the differing worlds that Fink encounters as Coen Brothers emphasize what Fink could have when really, neither the hotel he’s living in nor the world of the rich, successful writers and studio kingpins aren’t that great.

Through these entrancing shots of the hotel hallways and lots of rapturous compositions, the Coen Brothers create a film that is quite engaging while also making fun of Hollywood a bit. Another highlight of their direction is the way they guide actors by having them into a frame or to direct a conversation where it’s about the rhythm. The scenes involving Fink and Lipnick are rich in the way the Coens capture the intensity and drama of these conversation not just in the framing but also in the way the editing times these cuts as the Coens do amazing work in the editing under their moniker Roderick Jaynes. Other moments such as the climatic moment involving the two detectives in a fiery hallway represent the Coens just going all-out. It’s truly a film that isn’t like any other film as the Coen Brothers create what is undoubtedly a film for the ages.

In his first collaboration with the Coen Brothers, cinematographer Roger Deakins does a truly spectacular job with the film’s photography who creates a vastly wonderful look in the film’s hallway and hotel interiors to establish a tone while the exteriors of the California sun exemplify a world that is rich as Deakins’ work is truly phenomenal. Production designer Dennis Gassner, along with set decorator Nancy Haigh and art directors Richard C. Goldstein and Leslie McDonald, do fantastic work with the set pieces created as it includes the hotel that Fink and Meadows were staying in to the lavish homes and places that Fink embarks in as he explores Hollywood.

Costume designer Richard Hornung does a fantastic job with the suits and hats many of the men wear from the 1940s including the more calm yet stylish dresses that Audrey wears. Sound editor Skip Lievsay does a superb job with the sound work from some of the intimate exterior conversation scenes to the sound of Meadow‘s screams that is heard throughout the hotel early in the film. The film’s score by Carter Burwell is magnificent for its array of orchestral scores played in the film ranging from sprawling to more delicate arrangements to play with the differing moods of the film as the soundtrack also includes some pre-World War II music of the time.

The casting by Donna Isaacson and John S. Lyons is amazing for the ensemble that is created for the film. Among those making appearances is the Coen Brothers’ former cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld as a page boy and Frances McDormand in a voice cameo as a stage actress. Notable small roles include David Warrilow as Barton’s sell-out spouting friend Garland Stanford, Richard Portnow and Christopher Murney as two intimidating detectives, Jon Polito as Lipnick’s supportive assistant Lou Breeze, and Steve Buscemi in a funny performance as the bellhop Chet. John Mahoney is excellent as the William Faulkner-based writer W.P. Mayhew while Tony Shalhoub is superb as the fast-talking and insult-spouting Ben Geisler.

Judy Davis is very good as Mayhew secretary/lover Audrey who reveals to Barton some harsh truths about Mayhew while becoming the one ally he has in the world of writing. Michael Lerner is brilliant as studio head Jack Lipnick who tries to champion Fink while getting him to write the movie as it’s a very charismatic performance for Lerner. John Goodman is terrific as the brash yet helpful Charlie Meadow who befriends Fink and helps him deal with stuff while proving to be a very loyal and tough friend. Finally, there’s John Turturro in an outstanding performance as the titular character. Sporting a weird hairdo, Turturro brings a real sense of humility and passion to a man being compromised as a writer while struggling to find a voice in the work he’s making as he has to endure all of these strange forces. Notably as he is a man lost in a world that tries to make him conform so he can be like everyone else as it’s definitely the best performance Turturro gave in his career.

Barton Fink is a triumphant and mesmerizing film from the Coen Brothers featuring a tour-de-force performance from John Turturro. The film is definitely one of the Coen Brothers’ top films of their career as it’s funny, thrilling, and dramatic. Along with a great ensemble cast and top-of-the-line technical work, it’s a film that truly explores the mind of a writer as well as exploring the theme of compromises and ambition. In the end, Barton Fink is a dazzling yet glorious film from Joel & Ethan Coen.

Coen Brothers Reviews: Blood Simple - Raising Arizona - Miller's Crossing - The Hudsucker Proxy - Fargo - The Big Lebowski - O Brother, Where Art Thou? - The Man Who Wasn’t There - Intolerable Cruelty - The Ladykillers (2004 film) - Paris Je T’aime-Tuileries - To Each His Own Cinema-World Cinema - No Country for Old Men - Burn After Reading - A Serious Man - True Grit (2010 film) - Inside Llewyn Davis - Hail, Caesar! - The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

The Auteurs #9: The Coen Brothers Pt. 1 - The Auteurs#9: The Coen Brothers Pt. 2

© thevoid99 2012