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 | Drama

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:

Scream | Cult Favorite | Play | Corpse | Film Executive

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:

Written by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen after a trip to see Baby Boom (1987) while suffering writer's block writing Miller's Crossing (1990).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Charlie comes out of the elevator, the two detectives have just come out of Barton's room, and only a little way down the corridor. Charlie chases the second cop a good way down the corridor, but when he walks up to the fallen cop, he's still only at the door to Barton's room - we can see him walk past the door from Barton's POV.

Quotes:

[Barton is ranting about elitist playwrights]
Barton: Who cares about the fifth Earl of Bathsdrop and Lady Higgenbottom and... and... who killed Nigel Grinchgibbons?
Charlie: I can feel my butt gettin' sore already!

Movie Connections:

References The Godfather (1972)

Soundtrack:

FOR SENTIMENTAL REASONS

Hell-ywood

"Barton Fink" is, in my opinion, probably the Coen brothers' weirdest movie ever. Portraying the playwright title character (John Turturro) getting called to LA in 1941 to write a movie script and experiencing several strange things while suffering writer's block, they let out all the stops here. I should identify that although we usually expect unusual things from the Coen brothers, this is beyond bizarre. Of course, it is very likely that they're just showing how hellish Hollywood is (how many movies have shown that?). But that bug, plus Charlie Meadows (John Goodman), plus the picture on the wall - and of course the end scene - all add up to something really far out. What does it all add up to? I don't know, but the movie is worth seeing. Just be forewarned, this is not really an "easy" movie (well duh, it's a Coen brothers movie). Also starring Michael Lerner, Judy Davis, John Mahoney, Steve Buscemi and Tony Shalhoub.