Barton Fink (1991)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Lucas M

  
  In the beginning, Barton Fink is a nice drama film that don't look like a Coen Brothers' picture. But, suddenly, the film give an upheaval and become a surreal and dark comedy with influences of others great movies. With terrific performances of the cast and clever… More
  In the beginning, Barton Fink is a nice drama film that don't look like a Coen Brothers' picture. But, suddenly, the film give an upheaval and become a surreal and dark comedy with influences of others great movies. With terrific performances of the cast and clever screenplay and direction: Barton Fink is an unforgettable work of Joel and Ethan Coen. Fresh.

• xGary X

  
  A Broadway playwright relocates to Hollywood and suffers writer's block while enduring the attentions of an affable but mysterious insurance salesman who lives next door. Barton Fink is an odd fish, even by the off beat standards of the Coen brothers. It's actually quite… More
  A Broadway playwright relocates to Hollywood and suffers writer's block while enduring the attentions of an affable but mysterious insurance salesman who lives next door. Barton Fink is an odd fish, even by the off beat standards of the Coen brothers. It's actually quite difficult to differentiate the "real" from the surreal and the seedy motel in which he finds himself creates a deeply eerie atmosphere. Loaded with symbolism, the story doesn't really have a "beginning", "middle" or "end", the Coens even mocking both the base formula of low brow culture as well as the pretentiousness and self importance of men like Fink who fancy themselves as champions of the people but are in fact egoists with little respect for the "common man" they condescendingly claim to represent. Turturro puts in probably his finest performance as the deluded wordsmith and Goodman is as brilliant as always as the foil for his self absorbed rants. Darkly comic, bleak and surreal, Barton Fink blurs the line between fantasy and reality making for a bizarre but fascinating character study and comment on popular culture that's more about the evocative than the narrative.

• Steven C

  
  "Barton Fink" lays in a space where noir sensibilities and metafiction collide. This is a film first and foremost about the creative process of writing a screenplay but it quickly deepens from there. The character of Barton Fink (an excellent John Turturro) is an anxiety… More
  "Barton Fink" lays in a space where noir sensibilities and metafiction collide. This is a film first and foremost about the creative process of writing a screenplay but it quickly deepens from there. The character of Barton Fink (an excellent John Turturro) is an anxiety ridden, isolated character adrift from home confronting the unknown. The hotel he is staying in acts as a sort of worm-hole between the reality of New York City and the fantasy of Hollywood (an obvious reference to David Lynch). The Coen Brothers's idea of Hollywood acts as both noirish an extremely Altman-esque. Robert Altman treated California as a surreal, dangerous, confusing, parallel universe and that is what the Coen's are doing here. Hollywood is transient, foreign and self referencing and so is "Barton Fink." Like "Blood Simple" before it, "Barton Fink" is about movies. The Coen Brothers's, among other things, are commenting on the sate of cinema during the time of the films release by combining preexisting cinematic troupes to create something that does not warrant categorization, only an analysis that folds back in onto itself.

• Kase V

  
  A brilliant dive into the psych of a man recently consumed by confusion, seclusion, and helplessness. This kind of movie only comes around every few years or so. It cannot be defined! You cannot give a genre to this film, it's so versatile. Coen Brothers know what their doing,… More
  A brilliant dive into the psych of a man recently consumed by confusion, seclusion, and helplessness. This kind of movie only comes around every few years or so. It cannot be defined! You cannot give a genre to this film, it's so versatile. Coen Brothers know what their doing, and the film is led by more-than-terrific performances. You haven't seen any movie quite like this. Except for A Serious Man.

• Lady D

  
  I feel like I have watched the full movie, but didn't actually get it. Quite truthfully it bored me throughout and whilst there were a few enjoyable dark moments, I've obviously missed something that so many love about this film.

• paul o

  
  Having symbolism as its main way to convey the plot, Barton Fink is possibly one of the best Coen Brother films. John Turturro and John Goodman do a fantastic job playing stressed americans in hollywood while paranoia strikes all the characters. Definitely worth watching for any Coen… More
  Having symbolism as its main way to convey the plot, Barton Fink is possibly one of the best Coen Brother films. John Turturro and John Goodman do a fantastic job playing stressed americans in hollywood while paranoia strikes all the characters. Definitely worth watching for any Coen Brothers fan!

• Spencer S

  
  The Coen Brothers flavoring of yet another film with their favorite actors was just as conspicuously bittersweet as ever before. With the solid cast made up of regulars Turturro, Goodman, and Buscemi, leading the way, it's hard to cast a disparaging word on this tale of artistry… More
  The Coen Brothers flavoring of yet another film with their favorite actors was just as conspicuously bittersweet as ever before. With the solid cast made up of regulars Turturro, Goodman, and Buscemi, leading the way, it's hard to cast a disparaging word on this tale of artistry and flagrant aggression, though it was full of metaphors and problematic scenes of murder and mayhem, making it different than their usual tales of woe. Altogether it was another solid Coen collaboration.

• familiar s

  
  Damn Coen Brothers!!! This was one hell of a movie. A writer gets invited to Hollywood after the success of his playwright. He signs a contract to write a script in Hollywood related to wrestling. Unfortunately, he hardly knows anything about wrestling, and hence suffers from… More
  Damn Coen Brothers!!! This was one hell of a movie. A writer gets invited to Hollywood after the success of his playwright. He signs a contract to write a script in Hollywood related to wrestling. Unfortunately, he hardly knows anything about wrestling, and hence suffers from writer's block. Feeling lonely in LA, he finds a friend in his neighboring room of his hotel. Telling what happens further would be spoiling the movie for those who haven't seen it as yet. To be honest, the movie didn't entertain me per se, but I wasn't bored even for a minute. It succeeded to keep me attentive throughout the movie. I gotta admit that I don't like Coen Brothers' movie generally (at least the ones I've seen thus far), but this was a different experience. While not one of the greatest flicks ever, it was an amazing one for sure (at least for me).

• Dan S

  
  An atmospheric, well-directed noir concerning a shy, socially troubled writer (John Turturro) suffering from writer's block, and how his relationship with his next door neighbor (John Goodman) in a seedy hotel changes his life. This movie is pure Coen Bros. stuff, with a good… More
  An atmospheric, well-directed noir concerning a shy, socially troubled writer (John Turturro) suffering from writer's block, and how his relationship with his next door neighbor (John Goodman) in a seedy hotel changes his life. This movie is pure Coen Bros. stuff, with a good sense of humor, an ambiguous ending, and being able to draw out not one, not two, but three terrific performances (Turturro, Goodman, and Michael Lerner) thanks to how they construct their characters. The ending is all kinds of absurdity, but this actually helps the movie become something more than I originally perceived it to be. Some complain the finale gets too bizarre, but I found it to be bold as well as memorable. Although the film definitely suffers due to its slow pace and inability to get its audience to really care what happens to the rest of its characters outside of its two leads - this is still a worthwhile film that once again shows the twisted minds of the Coen Bros.

• Drew S

  
  A gnarled Faustian riddle of a film with an astonishing wealth of subtext. Barton Fink is an absolutely fantastic character, host to some of the Coens' most insightful sociological observation, and John Turturro is 100% on board with the person they're trying to create. I… More
  A gnarled Faustian riddle of a film with an astonishing wealth of subtext. Barton Fink is an absolutely fantastic character, host to some of the Coens' most insightful sociological observation, and John Turturro is 100% on board with the person they're trying to create. I love the delicious narcissism he projects when he purports interest in the "common man," but ultimately that interest is self-serving, a means to an end for his own intellectual fulfillment. When meeting a true paragon of the aesthetic he's trying to capture (John Goodman, who is excitingly awesome here), Fink is utterly unconcerned with his attempts to actually teach him or tell him stories of his life, gleaning only what he needs from their few conversations. It's a full-bodied, riveting characterization, and it's truly a shame that Turturro didn't pick up an Oscar nomination for his incisive work. (Michael Lerner getting a nomination for his one-volume-fits-all shoutfest, on the other hand, almost feels like a slap in the face.) The rest of the movie, a visually arresting cautionary tale about reconciling the "life of the mind" with Hollywood's pernicious capitalism, is almost too cruel to put into words. Along with their typical emotional abuse of their characters, the Coens here subject Barton Fink to an immense amount of mental duress; the challenge in watching this movie is that Fink kvetches so much about every little thing that goes wrong for him that it's difficult to truly empathize with him. Sure, we understand that he's not a very good person and there's really no incentive for getting behind him, but it's that perspective that makes the movie's view of haughty intellectualism that much more cogent. Plus, the last half hour of the movie is a complete mindfuck, if you're into that sort of thing (which I definitely am). It's sometimes a tricky balance depicting a character's dissolving mental state on film and keeping it representational versus presentational, but what we see in Barton Fink is assumed to be no less than the truth, and the Coens play it totally seriously, in their darkly humorous way. They've never really warped reality in any of their films as they have here - some of their characters may act completely beyond human comprehension, sure, but here we're invited along for a ride through Barton Fink's personal hell. And it is great.

• Mike S

  
  Stories about writers are always of great interest to me. Perhaps mainly because I aspire to be one myself one day, and thus am constantly on the lookout for some relatable inspiration. And what better way to gather some, than from a film made by two of Hollywood's most talented… More
  Stories about writers are always of great interest to me. Perhaps mainly because I aspire to be one myself one day, and thus am constantly on the lookout for some relatable inspiration. And what better way to gather some, than from a film made by two of Hollywood's most talented writer-directors. Not that I'm a huge fan of the Coens (they have a tendency of being somewhat pretentious and overrated), but they usually put out some interesting stuff. Barton Fink is another such creation. Taking place in the early 1940's, it follows the work and ordeals of Hollywood screenwriter Barton Fink (skillfully played by John Turturro). As in most other, if not all of the Cohen's movies, it does hold a pleasant amount of originality. Unique, well-written characters are presented in the plenty, and placed me in a state of pure fascination. To my disappointment, however, it also inhabits one of the brothers' greatest weaknesses: the inability to wrap up the plotline with a gratifying ending. It simply fails to come full circle and leaves a lot of questions hanging in the air. Other than that though, there's not that much to have a gripe about. For this is a one-of-a-kind production, with more to offer than just impressive writing. A little draggy in parts, but good all in all.

• Conner R

  
  A very interesting movie and easily the most abstract the Coen Brothers have ever gotten. The story starts out extremely normal and essentially average, but grows into this Eraserhead-like journey. It manages to really capture a wonderful sense of awkwardness, which it had to with… More
  A very interesting movie and easily the most abstract the Coen Brothers have ever gotten. The story starts out extremely normal and essentially average, but grows into this Eraserhead-like journey. It manages to really capture a wonderful sense of awkwardness, which it had to with such a nervous and neurotic character. Every Time Barton interacts with someone it is not quite normal, something blocks him from becoming a fully functional human being. The symbolism, while overly apparent, is extremely effective and interesting to look at. It's not just a simple story of a man writing a script, there's so much more to it than that.

• Tim S

  
  One of the ultimate Heaven and Hell stories.

• Wahida K

  
  Between Heaven and Hell There's Always Hollywood!

• Daniel H

  
  The Coen brothers best, and most simple, film. What few elements Barton Fink possesses, are sharpened and detailed to the point of cinematic perfection... the most striking example being the main setting of the dilapidated Hotel Earle, whose every detail has been painstakingly crafted… More
  The Coen brothers best, and most simple, film. What few elements Barton Fink possesses, are sharpened and detailed to the point of cinematic perfection... the most striking example being the main setting of the dilapidated Hotel Earle, whose every detail has been painstakingly crafted and considered. In the end, Barton Fink is a near-perfect example of the interplay between the tool of cinema and the underlying art of storytelling. In that sense, it is true minimalist cinema which doesn't remove the cinematic experience from the story, but instead supports it honestly and without pretension. Its brilliance is clear, focused, and precise... nothing left to chance.

• Anthony L

  
  This is the Coen brothers finest film in my opinion, its certainly my favourite. Its been a huge influence on modern cinema, and Ive seen it been ripped off countless times! As close to perfect film making as you can get! Brilliant.

• Randy T

  
  Odd occurrence sets off a strange chain of events: Coen brother's bread and butter - only this time it's a tale of Faust done as only Joel and Ethan could do it. And oh yes, there will be blood.

• First L

  
  Barton Fink gives us a Coen brothers skewering of hollywood, and perhaps a semi-autobiographical parable as well. Barton (as played by the almost unrecognizeable John Turturro) is a New York playwright who's starting to enjoy quite a bit of success when hollywood comes knocking… More
  Barton Fink gives us a Coen brothers skewering of hollywood, and perhaps a semi-autobiographical parable as well. Barton (as played by the almost unrecognizeable John Turturro) is a New York playwright who's starting to enjoy quite a bit of success when hollywood comes knocking on his door. He reluctantly agrees to have meetings with executives, but in truth is less interested in writing movie scripts than in writing something that represents "The People". The irony here is that while Barton wants nothing more than to write stories about common, everyday people, he is mortified by what the common people enjoy as entertainment. Especially when that entertainment is a B movie wrestling picture, which is what he is contracted to write. He's moved into a rundown hotel and soon befriends his noisy neighbor (John Goodman). Not too long afterwards, the movie takes a rather surrealistic turn, which at times seems like the Coens trying to write themselves out of a hole. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, as the movie doesn't have a whole lot of excitement taking place initially (well, it has all the excitement of a writer sitting in front of his typewriter with writer's block). I enjoyed the performances, I enjoyed the characters, particularily that of the ridiculously over-the-top hollywood executive (Michael Lerner) and the alcoholic southern writer (John Mahoney). The best part of the movie however, has got to be John Goodman and his character, Charles Meadows. His introduction seems initally terrifying, then charming, and then terrifying again. And I can't help but think the Coens injected a little auto-biographical influence into Barton Fink (hell, the guy looks like he could be the 3rd brother!), with it's portrayal of the soul-crushing experience that is film-making in hollywood. There is an odd bit of anti-semitism that pops up throughout the movie as well and I'm not sure what message was intended with this, other than "jews can't catch a break in show biz"? Maybe too many unresolved mysteries linger in this film, and perhaps the early 90s dates this film a little too much, but it's still a great movie by some great filmmakers.

• Gordon A

  
  Slow paced gem with career defining performances from Turturro and Goodman. Cracking script full of memorable one-liners is complimented by a wonderful atmosphere at the hotel generated by well crafted sets and a haunting score.

• _kelly .

  
  underrated Coen Bros.

Read all 20 featured audience ratings