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Movies / On DVD / Barton Fink
Barton Fink

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Barton Fink (1991)

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Reviews Counted:49

Fresh:44

Rotten:5

Average Rating:7.6/10

Runtime: 1 hr 56 mins

Genre: Comedies

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... 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. [More]

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

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

Director: Joel Coen

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

[See More Credits]

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Release:

May 20, 2003

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Barton Fink

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Resembles not the artist's churning mind but the filmmakers' conjoined colon

Full Review Source: CinePassion | comment Comment
11/15/09
Fernando F. Croce
Fernando F. Croce
CinePassion

Gnomic, claustrophobic, hallucinatory, just plain weird, it is the kind of movie critics can soak up thousands of words analyzing and cinephiles can soak up at least three espressos arguing their way through.

Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | comment Comment
10/13/09
Richard Schickel
Richard Schickel
TIME Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Again the Coens take familiar movie tropes and twist them into something new. This may be their most haunting movie.

Full Review Source: Newsweek | comment Comment
10/18/08
David Ansen
David Ansen
Newsweek
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Does cinema get any better than this?

comment Comment
04/19/08
Clint Morris
Clint Morris
Moviehole

No review available.

comment Comment
02/23/08
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

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

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
11/06/07
TV Guide's Movie Guide

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

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
11/06/07
Variety Staff
Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment 2 Comments
11/06/07
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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

comment Comment
11/04/07
Steve Crum
Steve Crum
Video-Reviewmaster.com

Someone pleaaaaase explain this movie to me!

Full Review Source: JoBlo's Movie Emporium | comment 2 Comments
08/25/06
JoBlo
JoBlo
JoBlo's Movie Emporium

No review available.

comment Comment
06/10/06
Boyd van Hoeij
Boyd van Hoeij
european-films.net

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

Full Review Source: F5 (Wichita, KS) | comment 4 Comments
02/09/06
Jake Euker
Jake Euker
F5 (Wichita, KS)

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 Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/26/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out

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 Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment 1 Comment
07/03/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

... 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 Source: Looking Closer | comment 1 Comment
01/15/05
Jeffrey Overstreet
Jeffrey Overstreet
Looking Closer

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

comment Comment
11/11/04
Michael A. Smith
Michael A. Smith
Nolan's Pop Culture Review

No review available.

comment Comment
11/02/04
Mike McGranaghan
Mike McGranaghan
Aisle Seat

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

comment Comment
10/07/04
Rob Thomas
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)

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

Full Review Source: Boulder Weekly | comment Comment
04/01/04
Thomas Delapa
Thomas Delapa
Boulder Weekly

No review available.

comment Comment
02/13/04
Carol Cling
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Latest News for Barton Fink

November 07, 2007: Total Recall: Welcome to Coen Brothers Country
Before expanding wide on November 21, No Country for Old Men (90 percent) will play in select cities this Friday riding a wave of huge expectations. The Cormac McCarthy-based... More...

February 02, 2006: Coens Aim to Tackle New "Country"
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Joel & Ethan Coen's next film will be an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's "No Country for Old Men." Word is that Tommy Lee... More...

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