Reviews of movies directed or written by the Coen brothers.
Monday, February 11th 2008
Grade: C+
Synopsis: Complications arise after a bar owner hires a private investigator (M. Emmet Walsh) to trail his wife and her lover (John Getz).
Blood Simple is a southern tinged noir that marked the Coen Brothers’ filmmaking debut.
While the film has lost some of its visceral edge since it’s 1984 debut, it doubtlessly influenced the very film’s that surpassed it, from Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs (1992) to the Coens’ own No Country for Old Men (2007). That said, Blood Simple is still a good story well told, highlighted by a great performance from M. Emmet Walsh.
Walsh plays a smarmy, insidious, devil of a man. His detective, who’s never actually named in the film, is a monster, and easily the highlight of the film. So much so, that Walsh completely eclipses lead John Getz. MORE »
Posted at 5:38 PM in Movie Reviews and Coen Brothers.
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Monday, February 11th 2008
Grade: C
Synopsis: After learning that they cannot have children, an ex-con (Nicholas Cage) and an ex-cop (Holly Hunter) abduct one of a local furniture magnate’s newborn quintuplets.
Raising Arizona is a sharp, albeit a bit too long, comedy from the Coen brothers.
At its core, the film is an excellent satire of the “greed is good” mentality of the 1980’s. Nicholas Cage and Holly Hunter play a couple of have-nots, who view the local magnate’s quintuplets as “more than they can handle” and help themselves. Their sense of entitlement overpowers any moral misgivings, a trend that continues when Cage’s character resorts to robbing convenience stores again in order to provide diapers for their abducted baby. MORE »
Posted at 1:37 PM in Movie Reviews and Coen Brothers.
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Monday, November 26th 2007
Grade: B+
Synopsis: During the Great Depression, three convicts (George Clooney, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson) escape from a chain gang to search for a hidden treasure.
O Brother, Where Art Thou? Is the Coen brothers interpretation of Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, set in the American south, is really an homage to America’s rural cultural heritage.
From an outstanding soundtrack that manages to appeal to fans outside the genre, to the great use of pop-culture (Woolworth, Dapper Dan), the Coens, taking a cue from Quentin Tarantino’s love notes to the 70’s, manage to transform an otherwise unremarkable era into cinematic gold. MORE »
Posted at 6:03 PM in Movie Reviews and Coen Brothers.
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Friday, October 26th 2007
Grade: A
Synopsis: After stumbling upon a drug deal gone bad in the desert, a man (Josh Brolin) takes a satchel full of money, unaware that a hit man (Javier Bardem) is on its trail.
No Country for Old Men may be the Coen brothers’ best movie so far.
I say “so far” because I think No Country for Old Men represents a kind of milestone for the Coens. They seem to have reached a point in their filmmaking where they’re confident enough in their style that they no longer need to emphasize it. Nor do they downplay it either. No Country for Old Men has the usual quirks you’d expect in a Coen brothers film; they’re just not front and center, instead they’re more matter-of-fact. MORE »
Posted at 7:00 PM in Movie Reviews and Coen Brothers.
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Monday, August 20th 2007
Grade: B+
Synopsis: A case of mistaken identity puts a slacker (Jeff Bridges) in the middle of a kidnapping case involving a millionaire’s wife.
The Big Lebowski is the Coen Brothers’ quasi-remake of Howard Hawk’s The Big Sleep (1946) only, instead of a hard-boiled Humphrey Bogart, we’ve got a slacker named “The Dude,” portrayed perfectly by Jeff Bridges.
But the story is little more than an excuse to deconstruct the hard-boiled detective, much the same way that Robert Altman did in The Long Goodbye (1973), only with even more irreverence.
The supporting cast is great, and the film is littered with so many in-jokes and self-references that you’re sure to find something new with every viewing. Unfortunately this self-reference is one of The Big Lebowski’s few flaws, as it keeps the film from being as accessible as it could be. The Big Lebowski has a learning curve that can be steep. MORE »
Posted at 11:14 PM in Movie Reviews and Coen Brothers.
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