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MOVIES / ON DVD / BARTON FINK
Barton Fink

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Barton Fink (1991)

91%
86%
90%
N/A
N/A
N/A
91 %
Reviews Counted: 46 Fresh: 42  Rotten:4 Average Rating: 7.7/10
Runtime: 1 hr 56 mins
Synopsis:
BARTON FINK is steeped in homage, to everything from Stanley Kubrick's THE SHINING to Roman Polanski's THE TENANT, in which inanimate objects (hotels, apartments) represent the decaying mind of the protagonist. Like Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) at the haunted Overlook Hotel, Barton is... [More]
BARTON FINK is steeped in homage, to everything from Stanley Kubrick's THE SHINING to Roman Polanski's THE TENANT, in which inanimate objects (hotels, apartments) represent the decaying mind of the protagonist. Like Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) at the haunted Overlook Hotel, Barton is at the Hotel Earle to write but is having problems. The wallpaper keeps falling down, oozing out a sticky substance (brain matter?) as weird noises and whispers appear to come from nowhere and everywhere. Director of photography Roger Deakins takes long shots of the narrow hallway, filled with shoes to be shined, that echo Kubrick's long shots of the Overlook hallways. With the many references to the mind and the head, the screenplay imagines Barton's hotel room as the inner workings of his decaying mind, as Roman Polanski did with the apartment in THE TENANT. And the hotel itself might just be hell; when Barton first enters the seemingly vacant, rotting hotel and rings the bell, Chet (Coen regular Steve Buscemi) comes up from a trap door in the floor as if he has emerged from the bowels of the underworld. The wrestling picture that is screened for Barton to give him ideas is called DEVIL ON THE CANVAS. Next-door neighbor Charlie Meadows (John Goodman) sweats more and more as the film continues, getting hotter and hotter, and is always throwing around the words "damn," "hell," and "Jesus." Finally, the painting on the wall over the typewriter that Barton stares into longingly shows a woman on a beautiful beach, where the soothing waves seem to be audible; it is as if that picture represents the heavenly world outside while Barton is trapped in the hell inside. The Coen brothers wrote BARTON FINK in about three weeks while unable to complete the screenplay for MILLER'S CROSSING; it seems that their severe case of writer's block put them through their own personal hell, ending in a fiery finale of creativity run amok. [Less]

Genre: Comedies

Starring: John Turturro, John Goodman, Michael Lerner, Judy Davis, Jon Polito

Director: Joel Coen
Screenwriter: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Producer: Ethan Coen
Composer: Carter Burwell

DVD Info

Release:

May 20, 2003

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Keep Case
  • Letterboxed - 1.66

Additional Release Material:

  • Deleted Scenes (8)
  • Trailers - 1. Original Theatrical Trailer
  • 2. MILLER'S CROSSING
  • 3. RAISING ARIZONA

Text/Photo Galleries:

  • Stills Gallery

Buy It On DVD

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Ratings Image

Does cinema get any better than this?

| Comment
04/19/08 05:48 AM
Clint Morris
Moviehole
Ratings Image

No review available.

| Comment
02/23/08 08:24 PM
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com
Ratings Image

The film's period decor, mood lighting and artful camerawork are beautiful, at times thrilling, to look at.

Full Review | Comment
11/06/07 06:27 PM
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Ratings Image

Scene after scene is filled with a ferocious strength and humor.

Full Review | Comment
11/06/07 06:26 PM
Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

This creepy satire is full of laughs and flaky twists, but by the end you may still be scratching your head.

Full Review | Comment
11/06/07 06:25 PM
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

Fascinating tale by the Coen brothers, among their best, with standout work by leads Turturro and Goodman.

| Comment
11/04/07 06:37 AM
Steve Crum
Video-Reviewmaster.com
Ratings Image

Someone pleaaaaase explain this movie to me!

Full Review | Comment
08/25/06 03:15 AM
JoBlo
JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Ratings Image

No review available.

| Comment
06/10/06 05:33 AM
Boyd van Hoeij
european-films.net
Ratings Image

The worst of the Coens' genre-ransacking; mean and self-congratulatory.

Full Review | Comment
02/09/06 02:29 PM
Jake Euker
F5 (Wichita, KS)
Ratings Image

Somehow everything coheres, thanks to the Coens' superb writing and assured direction, and a roster of marvellous performances. The result works on numerous levels, thrilling the mind, ears and eyes, and racking the nerves.

Full Review | Comment
01/26/06 03:16 AM
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
Ratings Image

Written during their own creative block, Joel and Ethan Coen's noirish satirical allegory decodes the myth of the "sensitive" artist, the mysteries of the creative process, and the ambiguities of Hollywood authorship.

Full Review | Comment
07/03/05 04:54 AM
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
Ratings Image

... a courageous and horrific glimpse through the ego and courage of the human spirit into the emptiness of even the kindest human being's heart.

Full Review | Comment
01/15/05 10:39 PM
Jeffrey Overstreet
Looking Closer
Ratings Image

Another great turn by the Coen brothers, with regulars Turturro and Goodman at their best.

| Comment
11/11/04 12:20 PM
Michael A. Smith
Nolan's Pop Culture Review
Ratings Image

No review available.

| Comment
11/02/04 03:31 PM
Mike McGranaghan
Aisle Seat
Ratings Image

A look at old Hollywood that's not just weird, but truly unsettling.

| Comment
10/07/04 10:55 AM
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)
Ratings Image

The Coens’ unsettling evocation of isolation and madness is vividly realized; their ultimate meaning is insanely obscure.

Full Review | Comment
04/01/04 03:00 PM
Thomas Delapa
Boulder Weekly
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No review available.

| Comment
02/13/04 11:14 AM
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal
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Nothing turns out as it seems, and the surreal finale to the film elevate the movie to being one of the Coens' best.

Full Review | Comment
01/27/04 05:17 PM
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com
Ratings Image

Creepy, nasty, and has peeling wallpaper!

| Comment
01/21/04 02:46 PM
Victoria Alexander
FilmsInReview.com
Ratings Image

No review available.

| Comment
12/23/03 10:29 AM
Michelle Alexandria
Eclipse Magazine
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