The greatest movie ever made..!

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

An Exercise In Nonsense

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

To be helpful, I will say that if you enjoy dreamlike movies with dreamlike plots, you'll love this one. It has scenes of such total brilliance that they create doubts about other filmmakers wasting their time all these years. On the other hand, if you get your dreams for free at night and that's about all you need, you may not like this. It has some brilliant scenes, but no plot, nothing resembling a plot, tension as the eponymous Fink (why that name, you will wonder) struggles to fulfill his Hollywood assignment but the plot was axed by the movie executive in favor of what is, after all, a Dadaist wrestling movie. You'll understand that comment after the movie.If you enjoy a tightly plotted film in which template characters pursue a goal (e.g., the Mission Impossible films), and you just want a story, without an admixture of meaning, you will probably hate this film. The brilliant scenes -- most of them involving John Goodman -- are character pieces, not plot devices. They advance nothing but themselves. Because there's no plot, remember. I could appreciate several great scenes, including the conversations between Barton Fink and his neighbor, the overbearing film director, and the two caricatured police detectives, but frankly the Mulholland Drive -- like nonplot drove me nuts. Because I get my dreams for free at night; when I buy entertainment, I prefer a plot as well as surreal imagery and character scenes, however well done. Call it a 5.

Barton Fink (John Turturro) is a New York playwright who gets a job working for Hollywood in 1941. When he meets his boss Jack Lipnick (Michael Lerner), Barton is assigned a wrestling movie. Barton takes residence in the dilapidated Hotel Earle, and sets to work, but gets severe writer's block from the start. He meets his neighbor Charlie Meadows (John Goodman) an outwardly friendly man, but who may or may not be a serial killer. Barton also meets novelist WP Mayhew (John Mahoney) and his mistress Audrey Taylor (Judy Davis) who struggles to put up with Mayhew's constant drinking. When Audrey is unexpectedly killed while visiting Barton, Charlie recommends that they keep it quiet from the police. Soon Barton completes the screenplay but Lipnick chastises him for it. The acting is great all around. Turturro is fantastic as Barton, and Goodman fits the character of the jovial yet sinister Charlie perfectly. It's really hard to imagine anyone else in the role. Barton Fink is one of those movies where you really have to pay attention in order to know what's going on. We follow Barton through his week at Hollywood as he tries to write, but witnesses all these strange occurrences while there. All the strange and bizarre parts of the movie add to the existential and surreal tone of the film. Although definitely a comedy, Barton Fink could probable also be considered a horror film. Not something like Dracula or Frankenstein where it's clear, but more like Eraserhead where the tone builds on the creepy atmosphere. And it's done in only a way that the Coen brothers could do it. An atmospheric nightmare that can make you laugh. If you like the Coen brothers, watch Barton Fink if you haven't already.

In my eyes, the quintessential Coen brothers film and one of my three personal favorite films of all time. This movie makes me think about or notice something new every time I watch it, a rare feat for a film that isn't just pretentious drivel disguised as genius. There is so many ways to interpret the bizarre events here that it leaves you no choice BUT to think. I can still remember the first time I saw it when John Goodman steps out through the burning elevator and produces a shotgun as the halls burst into flames. The image has been etched into my brain ever since, mostly because it comes out of nowhere. Most filmmakers would never dare go for something like that, but I have eternal respect to the Coens for not only doing it, but for pulling it off marvelously. Apart from amazing visuals, I adore Bartons fruitless quest to discover the inner workings of the common man, while ignoring every single opportunity around him to learn more. As Charlie tries to tell him stories about his misadventures and his struggles, Barton cuts him off to talk about himself. Because he doesn't actually care about others as much as he believes he does. Or rather, cant empathize with others as he believes he can. W.P. Mayhew suffers from alcoholism to the point where he will puke his guts out in public and then seconds later pull out a flask and continue drinking. That's some human suffering right there, but Barton instead only see's his idol as a disappointment. W.P's long suffering mistress defends him, and instead of trying to understand why she would, he simply berates her (which is fair I suppose, but that line of Barton's at the park - "What don't I understand?" - that remains unanswered always sticks out to me) Not to mention him berating the Sailors shipping out to fight a war while he sits in his room and thinks about how everything's so unfair for him. I could talk about this movie forever, but I'll just leave it with make your own interpretations of what the hell everything means. And as for those Coen Brothers, I think we'll be hearing from those kids. And I don't mean just a postcard.

In seeking to follow the hottest trends, a major film studio hires a pretentious and prestigious writer named Barton Fink to write a B-list movie. You can only imagine how this turns out.What exactly this movie is trying to accomplish will go over the heads of the average movie viewer, which is why this gem flopped. First and foremost, it's a farcical comedy. While containing convincing elements of drama and horror, it all only serves to create the big irony of just about everything going wrong as poor Barton tries to write his masterpiece.The film is rife with iconography and symbolism. The viewer can choose to interpret what goes on literally or figuratively. This movie is a masterpiece both celebrating the beauty of writing and ridiculing it. It's commentary on the mainstream film industry which lasts until today. It sure conveys a whole lot for a movie that doesn't to be remembered for meaning anything.