Coen Brothers Films Ranked
14. O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
In a reimagined semi-musical telling of the Odyssey set during the Great Depression, three none-too-bright escapees from a chain gang (George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson) make their way across the Southern United States in search of promised treasure.
The first of several buffoons Clooney would play for the Coens (which would become a second specialty next to his silver fox charmer persona), the hair pomade-obsessed Ulysses Everett McGill talks the talk and convinces his even more idiotic traveling companions that they are on a quest for untold riches, but really he’s just as lost (both spiritually and geographically) as they are.
A gang of Coen regulars including John Goodman, Holly Hunter and Stephen Root populate this sepia-tinged Greek myth remix, and the jukebox soundtrack is the best of the Coens’ career (perhaps with the exception of Inside Llewyn Davis, interestingly also featuring folk music). This is a film that keeps your toe tapping even if not every skit is as funny as it should be and the whole thing loses a bit of coherency in the final stretch.
13. Blood Simple (1984)
A couple having an extramarital affair (John Getz and Frances McDormand) are pursued across Texas by a jealous husband (Dan Hedaya) and the psychotic private investigator he hired to keep tabs on them (M. Emmet Walsh).
Even in their low-budget indie debut, the Coen Brothers showed so much promise and demonstrated many of what would become their stylistic trademarks: starring Frances McDormand, featuring brutal acts of violence, and a journey from nowhere to somewhere. In fact, about the only thing Blood Simple lacks is much of the Brothers’ usual sense of humour.
Frances McDormand is compelling, especially when her everywoman is forced to fight for her life in the film’s final stretch, but it is Walsh as a truly horrifying and grotesque P.I. who steals the show to the extent that, as a minor criticism of an otherwise solid first feature, whenever he’s not on screen all the other characters feel rather ordinary in comparison.
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12. Raising Arizona (1987)
Ex-con H.I. and ex-cop Ed (Nicolas Cage and Holly Hunter) fall madly in love and kidnap a child from a wealthy local businessman when they realise they are unable to have a child of their own. But their newfound domestic bliss is upset by the arrival of H.I’s incompetent but dangerous escaped cell mates (William Forsythe and John Goodman, the latter in a breakthrough film role) and the authorities closing in on the would-be happy family.
The sizzling chemistry and delightfully well-matched Southern accents of Nicolas Cage and Holly Hunter are the draw here, and they completely charm you from the start: yes they kidnapped a toddler, but they’re going to love him more than his real parents with too much money and too many children ever could. The tone and style of the piece – a vibrant screwball comedy with an all-timer of a wild chase sequence – couldn’t be more different than their previous dark and dirty film Blood Simple.
With their second feature, the Coens began to demonstrate their versatility, though like their debut they still hadn’t got the balance of disparate storytelling elements 100% right. They were getting closer.
11. The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001)
An unassuming barber (Billy Bob Thornton) is drawn into a life of blackmail, extortion and violence when a customer offers him a shady business deal that inevitably goes awry.
Aside from the low-key magnetism of Thornton’s leading man (a relative rarity for an always fascinating actor), what makes it particularly cruel that this is one of the Coen Brothers’ most under-seen and underrated mid-career efforts is how regular cinematographer Roger Deakins makes every black-and-white frame a painting. Few films made after the turn of the century recreate the look of 40s film noir this pristinely.
The Man Who Wasn’t There has a real moody noir atmosphere and, though the plot gets pretty convoluted and strange as things progress, we also have the joy of seeing some of the best now sadly departed character actors in the business – including James Gandolfini and Jon Polito – doing horrible things to each other while we’re kept guessing what everyone’s real game might be.
