Coen Brothers Films Ranked
6. The Big Lebowski (1998)
Committed layabout The Dude (Jeff Bridges) is mistaken by a gang of thugs for reclusive millionaire Jeffrey Lebowski (David Huddleston, whose character shares his given name) and is forced to help return the rich man’s young wife who is being held for ransom, just to get reimbursed for a ruined rug.
This is the cultiest of all Coen films, perhaps unsurprisingly given that it’s about a stoner caught up in events beyond his comprehension.
The Dude, embodied by a lackadaisical Jeff Bridges in perhaps his definitive performance, has inspired a widely-attended annual fan gathering, unique lifestyle choices, and even a movement bordering on a religion (instead of “amen”, you’d probably respond: “The Dude abides”).
The plot, loosely inspired by The Big Sleep (1946), is intentionally convoluted and probably makes more sense if you’re as addled as The Dude is. The other characters, from John Goodman’s volcanic-tempered bowler Walter to John Turturro’s spangly sex offender Jesus and Julianne Moore’s sexual abstract artist Maude have become iconic along with the Coen Brothers’ irreverent dialogue and chill-out soundtrack.
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5. Barton Fink (1991)
Acclaimed theatre writer Barton Fink (John Turturro) is hired by a Hollywood studio to create a guaranteed hit for the big screen. He is held up in a miserable hotel and rapidly driven to the verge of insanity by a combination of writer’s block, his oppressive surroundings, and his friendly-sinister neighbour (John Goodman).
For something they knocked out in a few weeks when they were struggling to break the script that would become Miller’s Crossing, Barton Fink perhaps had no right to become one of the more unique and memorable Coen projects, but that’s exactly what it did.
Frustrated creatives make for popular protagonists, especially in meta-textual films that actively engage with the difficulties of the creative process. In one of his most memorable roles, Turturro makes Barton a tight ball of neuroses arrogantly believing his own hype, and his depressing environs begin to reflect his increasingly fractured state of mind via more erratic production design and cinematography. What starts as an unshowy character study becomes a stressful psychological horror, especially with Goodman’s sweaty, satanic external force wearing Barton down and keeping the threat level high.
4. A Serious Man (2009)
Inspired by the trials of Job in the Old Testament, we follow Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) as his dull but reassuringly stable family life comes apart piece by piece in 1960s American suburbia.
Why hasn’t Michael Stuhlbarg been given more lead roles? He’s usually the best thing in any film he’s in no matter the size of his part, and he’s completely captivating here as an ordinary man becoming a punching bag for the world; becoming increasingly neurotic and depressed to the extent that he becomes convinced that God has it in for him. This is certainly one of the Coens’ most profound films in its naturalistic approach to weighty meaning-of-life themes.
Not many Coen Brothers films confront religion or living with faith head-on, but the focus on a practicing Jewish family in the Midwest in the 60s leads you to conclude that the brothers might have had a lot of similar experiences as Larry’s teen son Danny (Aaron Wolff). The film’s style of self-deprecating gallows humour also definitely comes from this era of stand up comedy, influenced by Jewish comedians of the likes of Carl Reiner and Don Rickles, and the jokes are perfectly honed to punctuate a grim outlook on life.
