Doomsday's Andrei Tarkovsky Love Fest

Miller's Crossing (1990)

View count: Third time




The third film by Joel and Ethan Coen isn't a crime thriller nor is it an offbeat comedy like their first two efforts. Instead they dive into a third genre that very much suits their talents for razor sharp dialogue and almost comical violence. In Miller's Crossing, the Coens craft a film that centers on a character playing one gang against the other in a Yojimbo-like narrative. I didn't remember much when I turned this on as I hadn't watched it in probably five years. The only lingering thoughts were that I found it dry and interesting but not quite relatable. This time however I think I was able to appreciate it a little more.

The movie isn't exactly the deepest or most thought-provoking film. Gabriel Byrne plays Tom, the right hand man of tough gangster Leo, played by Albert Finney. Marcia Gay Harden is Verna, Leo's lady whom Tom is seeing on the side. When rival gangster Johnny Caspar tells Leo he wants to kill Verna's brother Bernie for sabotaging his books a power struggle erupts between the two gangs with Tom stuck in the middle. Aside from a pretty basic story what really makes the movie shine is how it feels. Aside from the actors, the main star of the movie is the dialogue. It's drenched in old-time witticisms, every character seems like a throwback to the 1930s gangster archetypes and it sets itself up to be a very effective noir film. I wouldn't call it a thriller because much of the movie is a slow burn however watching Byrne play each side and each character with varying degrees of success makes the movie seem so effortless. I'm not terribly familiar with Byrne's work outside of The Usual Suspects and his brief role in Vikings however his casting here as a cool, steel-hearted Irish mobster fit this movie to a T. He's especially effective when juxtaposed to Finney's Leo, a hot headed and pudgy boss who's an 'artist' with a tommy gun. Ultimately Miller's Crossing is a movie that you can tell was crafted not only to make a good movie but to make one worthy of its genre, the characters it presents and the time period in which it takes place.

Maybe it was looking at it through more experienced eyes, maybe it was because I knew a little of what to expect but I was able to appreciate Miller's Crossing much more this time around than previously. I'll get into it more as I delve into the Coen filmography but it's amazing how they seem to master a genre when they put their touch onto it. It would be hard to call Miller's Crossing a masterpiece considering how some of the all-time great films are gangster movies but that might be an unfair comparison. It is however a fine entry into the genre and from a mainstream point of view is unfairly overlooked nowadays.

What I like is that while Barton is the struggling artist type the Coens avoid making him easily sympathetic. The dude's actually kind of an asshole. You can draw a similar comparison to Llewyn Davis.

Back in the early days of ComingSoon, back when we had more than 5 members, I created a thread on Barton Fink and everyone seemed to focus on the hell theme. The hotel is definitely supposed to represent hell and John Goodman is definitely a spiritual being. But as Doomsday said, once you allow the movie to be digested, it really ain't too complicated. It's just a big fuck you to Hollywood. The script was supposedly written when the Coens were having writers block on Miller's Crossing, a mid-budget gangster film, so they probably had all sorts of frustrations they let out.

In my mind I always thought Barton Fink was that movie about the kid with the weird shaped head and glasses

What always stood out to me was that Barton never wanted to listen to John Goodman's stories.

The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)

View count: Second time



I'm aware that a few people on these boards aren't the biggest fans of The Hudsucker Proxy but sue me, I enjoy it. It's typical Coen in that it's hard to nail down exactly what kind of movie it is. It's a comedy without many jokes, it's a screwball mish-mash with some stock characters but also with a weird supernatural undertone. As always, it's hard to picture who this movie would be made for outside of general 'Coen Bros. fans.' But it's also an enjoyable movie with a few laugh out loud moments ('you lied to me...you, a Muncie girl!')

Tim Robbins plays Norville Barnes, a new face in the big city looking to strike it rich. He takes an entry level job in the mailroom of Hudsucker Industries where he's quickly faced with the daunting task of delivering a dreaded Blue Letter to Hudsucker executive Sidney Mussburger (Paul Newman). Unbeknownst to Norville is that the founder of the company, Waring Hudsucker, recently flung himself out of the window and his shares are now going public. Mussburger's plan is to install a president so incompetent, so foolish that the shares plummet to rock bottom where the board will simply buy them cheap and rebuild the company. That's where Norville comes in as he is quickly named the president of the company. The new appointment quickly draws the attention of newspaper dame Amy Archer played by Jennifer Jason Leigh doing her best Katharine Hepburn/Rosalind Russell impression.

I get it, it's a comedy without the punchlines or even the jokes. It's definitely a throwback to the 1930s and 40s His Girl Friday type films which begs the question of why it needed to be made in the first place. Is there an audience of old Hollywood throwbacks? Probably not but it's not a movie that demands an audience of that type. It's a movie that I find enjoyable and one that I liked better the second time around. In addition to the acting that's really about all the praise that I can give it because I can also understand reservations that other people might have that aren't used to the Coen style.  Maybe the only thing that didn't really sit well with me was the somewhat out of place narration and deus ex machina ending.  Again, par for the course but it didn't seem to fit in with what the rest of the movie was trying to do.  It was almost a little too zany in a movie that was already pretty zany.

Is The Hudsucker Proxy the best work that the Coens have produced? No, but it's one that will make you feel glad that you watched it when it's over.

Heh, nice!

I'm a big fan.

Yeah, that's a bizarre statement.

Unless he means it's for the kid inside all of us, in which case he's spot on.

My review from last month:

The Hudsucker Proxy is a comedy from the Coen Brothers set in the 1950s about Norville Barnes (Tim Robbins), a simple man from Indiana who is made President of the Hudsucker company. Nnorville has all sorts of ambitions but what he doesn't know is he's only being made president so stock will plummet and the board of directors can buy their shares back for next to nothing. Jennifer Jason Leigh also stars as a fast-talking, tough as nails reporter who goes undercover to investigate Barnes.

The film is basically a cross between the screwball comedies of the 30s and 40s and the Frank Capra pictures of the same era where an idealistic and simple man fights to preserve his values in the face of indifference and compromise. I don't think the film really works as either though. The Capra-esque plot is undercut by the film's deep sense of cynicism. The immaculate and stylish sets dwarf everything else and the characters and plots feel insincere. The movie is lacking in heart, as they say; an element essential for a Frank Capra style story. The screwball comedy holds up a bit better thanks to some fun dialogue and Jennifer Jason Leigh's flawless emulation of characters played by people like Rosalind Russell and Katharine Hepburn, but the film is liking a certain anarchic tone. The film also just isn't that funny. It certainly has its moments, like the montage when Norville is made president and some of the dialogue, but I rarely actually laughed.

In spite of my criticisms, I really do admire the hell out of this movie. The art direction is phenomenal and reminded be a lot of the excellent work on Tim Burton's Batman films. The cast is also quite fun, particularly the aforementioned Jennifer Jason Leigh who totally owns her part. It's a film where I can see the talents of the Coens coming through even though I don't think it really works. It's a tough film to call and I might need to revisit this (Coen comedies often play better a second time) but for now we'll call my reaction mixed.

C

"I'm co-operating here!" is one of my favorite go-to lines.

The Big Lebowski (1998)

View count: Millions



I'm usually lukewarm or indifferent when it comes to inexplicably popular or 'cult' movies. I won't use the word 'overrated' because I hate that word and it's overused but many times they don't live up to the reputations that fans bestow upon them. My major exception is The Big Lebowski, my favorite Coen Bros. movie. Not only is it my favorite Coen movie, it's one of my all-time favorite movies and if I were to make a top 5 favorite comedies list it would almost certainly be in the top 3 with Spinal Tap and Dr. Strangelove giving it worthy competition.

I assume that there are some pretty passionate Lebowski fans on these boards while others might have only seen it a couple times. Most would say that it's about a guy who gets mixed up in a kidnapping where the kidnappers want to maim him, the husband of the hostage double-crosses him and his incompetent friends make his life miserable. In actuality the movie is much more simple; it's about a guy who just wants to get a new rug. Unfortunately his old rug was 'micturated' on by Wu the 'Chinaman' and Lebowski (aka The Dude) thinks that the millionaire who shares his name owes him one. After all Wu thought he was really peeing on his rug, get it? Among the insanity is maybe the most quotable movie of this generation, one with such subtle humor, such obscure references and callbacks that it's almost impossible to catch everything the first, third or ninth time around. The Coens have so carefully crafted an ingenious, dialogue heavy movie around an absurd, almost infantile premise like only can. It's not something new to them and it's a theme they would play off again yet this might be the best movie they have crafted in that style. It's what makes it enduring and adds to its popularity.



I know that some of what I said might seem contradictory. I talk about 'not living up to reputations' yet Lebowski might have one of the biggest, most devout fanbases of any movie in my lifetime. There are dozens of Lebowski-fests every year, screenings take place nationwide and The Dude and Walter might be Bridges' and Goodman's most iconic roles. That's okay, I know Lebowski might not everybody's cup of tea but it's certainly mine. I don't ever expect that I'll go to a Lebowski fest or grow my beard out but it's still a movie I admire and as I've said many times before, it's a movie that gets funnier every time I watch it. Now THAT is a movie that takes talent to make.

And if you still don't agree with me?