Ranking the Coen brothers flicks
Posted: Tuesday, September 09, 2008 6:25 AM by Paige Newman
Filed Under:
Movies, Pop culture
I love Coen brothers films. In fact, except for “Intolerable Cruelty” and “The Ladykillers,” Joel and Ethan Coen have made nothing but excellent movies. Where it gets tricky is in ranking them. It’s actually a great way to start an argument with a friend. Some Coen fans lean toward the comedies: “The Big Lebowski,” “Raising Arizona.” Others, and I’m one of them, love the drama and genre stuff, “Blood Simple,” “Miller’s Crossing.”
Bernie Bernbaum (John Turturro) begs for his life in one of the more underrated Coen brothers films, "Miller's Crossing." |
20th Century Fox
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A few months back, on the ridiculous but addictive social networking site Twitter, different friends were ranking their five favorite Coen films. I was surprised how many people had “The Hudsucker Proxy” in their top five (though I do love Jennifer Jason Leigh’s fast-talking reporter in that movie) and people seemed surprised to find “Barton Fink” in my top five (can you really resist a studio chief bellowing about how he wants a wrestling picture?). But honestly, my list changes almost daily. And my biggest test of a film is: When it randomly comes on cable, do I have to watch the whole darn thing?
Applying that test, my list would look like this: “Fargo,” “Blood Simple,” “No Country For Old Men,” “Miller’s Crossing” and, yes, naysayers, “Barton Fink.”
From Frances McDormand’s Marge Gunderson to Steve Buscemi’s impatient kidnapper/killer Carl Showalter to William H. Macy’s hapless and sorry schemer Jerry Lundegaard, it’s the characters that make “Fargo” so uniquely watchable. And the Coens give us a glimpse at a part of the world that those of us on the coasts rarely get to see on film. It’s hard not to get the shivers watching the winter scenes in that movie. It’s visceral right down to the infamous wood-chipper scene.
Obviously, looking at my list, I like a little violence in my Coen favorites (heck, I like it in my movies, period). And there is nothing like the great scene in “Blood Simple,” where Ray (John Getz) realizes he’s going to have to bury Marty (Dan Hedaya) alive. Or in “No Country,” when the drug runners’ dog goes after Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) and he has to take it down.
The brothers don’t use violence exploitively, instead they use it to amp up their already crazy stories and make the audience feel as if there is more at stake. Anything could happen to anyone in a Coen brothers flick – and that’s part of what makes their films so satisfying.
And their two films I haven’t mentioned -- “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” “The Man Who Wasn’t There” -- well, on any given day, they’d find a place on my list, too. That’s the nice thing about the Coens, they have a film for any mood. Let’s hope “Burn After Reading” is more “Lebowski” than “Cruelty.”
Do you have a top five list of Coen films? If so, what’s on your list? And if you’re not a fan, why not?
