2003 - INTOLERABLE CRUELTY, a comedy from the Coen brothers.

A goofy comedy from the Coen Brothers about marriage and divorce.  Their oddball humor is very much present. With the assistance of their leading man George Clooney they continue to make Clooney act like an absolute fool.

Briefly, Clooney is a shark of a divorce attorney known for never losing a case.  He takes on a divorce where the husband played by Edward Herrmann picks up prostitutes and pretends he is the conductor on a train, (don't ask).  Herrmann's wife is played by Catherine Zeta Jones photographed to look her most glamorous.  After Jones loses the case thanks to shyster attorney Clooney, she swears revenge.  This kicks in lots of scenes with goofy characters and nutty situations involving scary rottweilers, asthmatic hit men and soap opera actors.

 

The Coens are known for their eccentric dialog and the scenes during the divorce court proceedings are funny.  However it does seem like the comedic invention and situations seems to sag about midway into the film.  Still this is a Coen Brothers film and they are always worth a look. 

 

Among the other actors involved in this film are Geoffrey Rush, Cedric the Entertainer, Richard Jenkins, Billy Bob Thornton, Julia Duffy and Jonathan Hadyley as a character named Heinz, the Baron Krauss von Espy, aka "Puffy." 

The film was written by Robert Ramsey, Matthew Stone and Joel and Ethan Coen, the running time is 100 minutes.

2008 - BURN AFTER READING, a black comedy from the Coen Brothers

This is what I would call a typical Coen Brothers comedy.  The characters are very stupid and the humor is very black.  George Clooney plays a US Marshall who is definitely not the smartest guy in the room.  He is having an affair with the wife of a fired CIA analyst played by John Malkovich.  Malkovich's wife is played by Tilda Swinton in another one of her typically cold performances.

The plot has something to do with some trainers at a local Washington DC gym getting a hold of a computer disc which contains a tell all book about the CIA that Malkovich is writing. Hoping to make money from it the trainers peddle it around Washington DC looking for a buyer.  From there the plot gets more complicated as the actors move through the Coen Brothers complex and very cynical plot turns.

 

Since this is a Coen Brothers film, the level of film making is at their usual highly skilled level.  I believe the problem here is that every character is just incredibly unlikable.  The audience has literally no one to sympathize with.  The film kind of leaves a bad taste in your mouth after it ends.

The Burn After Reading is certainly entertaining enough.  But I think I have come to expect a little more from the Coens.

Written as usual by Joel and Ethan Coen, the running time is 96 minutes.

2001 - THE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE

Well made, well acted and well photographed in black and white by Roger Deakins, this is another typically quirky Coen Brothers film.

The plot is right out of a James M Cain novel with the very heavy hand of fate coming down hard on a barber and his wife trying to pull together money to open a dry cleaning business.

 

I hate to criticize such a well made film, but this story seems even colder than usual for the Coen Brothers. It's just very hard to work up any sympathy for any of these extremely unlikable characters.

 Probably can't recommend this one although I usually enjoy their films.

Written by Joel and Ethan Coen as usual the film runs 116 minutes.

2013 - INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS, another dour Coen Brothers character study

If the studio that put up the money for Inside Llewyn Davis was expecting another hit film and soundtrack like the Coen's previous semi musical film, "O Brother Where Out Thou?" weren't they in for a surprise.  Instead of a bunch of colorful southern characters and some zippy bluegrass musical numbers what they got was this depressing character study with a bunch of downer folk music tunes.  I also knew this film was in trouble when the lead was sharing scenes with a kitty cat.

The cast was the usually carefully considered group.  However Oscar Isaac is no George Clooney.  Justin Timberlake was cast as a more ambitious and successful folk singer than Llewyn Davis but he doesn't really make much of an impression.  Carey Mulligan plays Timberlake's sort of shrewish wife.  In fact the entire cast with the exception of John Goodman is just a downer.  I don't have a problem with a film having an unlikable leading character or characters but I still have to have a reason to be interested in them.

The New York and Chicago locations are well chosen, the film does have a feeling for the early 1960's.  The photography however while well done is as big a downer as the characters in this film.  The Coens decided on a muted color pallet with lots of smoke and shadows which only contributes to the overall impression of utter futility and pointlessness that hangs over this film.

The Coens usually make their films on the cheap so I would guess that although this film was not particularly popular with the general public, it probably broke even or made money.  Inside Llewyn Davis is one of those films that seems made for the intelligentsia.

105 minutes, screenplay by the Coens as usual.

1991 - BARTON FINK, what is the point?

As Barton Fink comes to it's cryptic conclusion, I am left wondering, "what is the point" of this film.

Everything about this film is first class, the direction, the sets the acting, the Coens make make very good films.  However I still wonder what this all adds up to?  The film is clearly some sort of satire or ridicule of a certain type of left leaning 1930's playwright like Maxwell Anderson or Clifford Odets.  These guys were intellectuals writing about the "common man."  Plays like Winterset or Golden  Boy look kind of corny and pretentious with their concern for the "little people."  But these plays are a product of a time and the Coens ridicule of these authors seems a little mean spirited. 

The shots at old fashioned Hollywood studio executives also seem like pretty easy targets as well.  Does anyone doubt that a Harry Cohn or a Louis B Mayer hard nosed studio executives were kind of monsters when it came to producing films?  Is this really a big insight?

Still, Barton Fink is a well made film, if a pointless one.

116 minutes.

2010 - TRUE GRIT, mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble

Mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble.  Mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble. 

Mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble.  Mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble True Grit  mumble. Mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble.  Mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble. Mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble.  Mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble. 

Mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble.  Mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble. Mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble.  Mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble. 

Mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble.  Mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble. Mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble.  Mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble. Mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble.  Mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble. Mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble.  Mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble. Mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble.  Mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble. 

Mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble.  Mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble. Mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble.  Mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble. Mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble.  Mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble. Mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble.  Mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble. Mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble.  Mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble.  

110 mumble mumble mumble mumble.