Barton Fink (1991)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Joel Coen

Writers:

Joel Coen (written by) &
Ethan Coen (written by)

Release Date:

21 August 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Between Heaven and Hell There's Always Hollywood!

Plot:

In 1941, New York intellectual playwright Barton Fink comes to Hollywood to write a Wallace Beery wrestling picture...

Plot Keywords:

Writer | Wrestling | Writer's Block | Playwright | Hotel

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 13 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

John Turturro	...	Barton Fink
John Goodman	...	Charlie Meadows
Judy Davis	...	Audrey Taylor
Michael Lerner	...	Jack Lipnick
John Mahoney	...	W.P. Mayhew
Tony Shalhoub	...	Ben Geisler
Jon Polito	...	Lou Breeze
Steve Buscemi	...	Chet
David Warrilow	...	Garland Stanford
Richard Portnow	...	Detective Mastrionotti
Christopher Murney	...	Detective Deutsch
I.M. Hobson	...	Derek
Meagen Fay	...	Poppy Carnahan (as Megan Faye)
Lance Davis	...	Richard St. Claire
Harry Bugin	...	Pete

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some scenes of violence.

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

France:U | Brazil:16 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-14 | Germany:16 (bw) | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:15 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #31095) | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Ambassador Hotel - 3400 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Circle Films

Trivia:

The parts played by John Turturro, John Goodman, Jon Polito and Steve Buscemi were all written with them in mind.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Audrey visits Barton at his hotel room, she sits on the bed and puts her hat on the bed to her left and leaves it there. When Barton sits down beside her, the hat is gone.

Quotes:

Charlie: I could tell you some stories...
Barton: Sure you could and yet many writers do everything in their power to insulate themselves from the common man, from where they live, from where they trade, from where they fight and love and converse and...
Barton: So naturally their work suffers and regresses into empty formalism and... well I'm spouting off again, but to put in in your language, the theatre becomes as phony as a three-dollar bill!
Charlie: Well I guess that's a tragedy right there!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Burly Man Chronicles (2004) (V)

Soundtrack:

FOR SENTIMENTAL REASONS

An Awesome picture from the Coen Brothers, better than Lebowski and Man Who Wasn't there

This early Coen Brothers picture is my favorite thus far. Although I haven't seen many, i liked Barton Fink much more than Intolerable Cruelty or The Man Who Wasn't there, and even The Big Lebowski. Its the story of a writer named Barton Fink (Turturro) who goes from writing plays in New York to writing screenplays in Hollywood. The film is extremely well-written, with a great sense of ironic humor. The direction is good as well, a bit ahead of its time, so vivid and perfect for this kind of picture. The acting was first-rate, full of colorful characters, Turturro is great as the lead but Goodman steals the show, a great character actor does it again with his Charlie Meadows character. Michael Lerner, Tony Shalhoub and Jon Polito were also superb in their supporting roles. Judy Davis was good in her role as was Steve Buscemi who had a small role but was pretty funny. The film is an instant favorite of mine, i liked even more than The Big Lebowski which i have seen 3 times and loved. 10/10 #66 on my list of all time favorite films.