Set in Hollywood during the 1940′s, “Barton Fink” is a comic satire about creative egos, flashy moguls, a traveling salesman and a nasty case of writer’s block. Barton Fink (John Turturro) is a New York playwright lured to Hollywood to work as a screenwriter. It doesn’t take long for Barton’s life to erupt in complete chaos. His studio boss orders the serious-minded Barton to write a low budget wrestling movie. Deeply disappointed, Barton returns to his seedy hotel, types one sentence and then¿ nothing. To make matters worse, he is continually interrupted by Charlie (John Goodman), a chatty traveling insurance salesman who lives next door. Eventually they become friends and Charlie tries to help Barton by teaching him the finer points of wrestling. As the clock ticks away and the temperature climbs, Barton becomes more desperate as his life spins out of control. Starring: John Turturro, John Goodman, Judy Davis, Michael Lerner, John Mahoney
Directed by: Joel Coen
Runtime: 116 minutes
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Amazon USAmazon UKIMDBReview: Barton Fink
Written in just 3 weeks, Barton Fink was born out of the Coens’ frustration with Miller’s Crossing (1990). Struggling with that film, they had a break to try and find inspiration and ended up penning Barton Fink which also deals with writer’s block. Set in 1941, playwright Barton Fink (John Turturro), is the toast of Broadway but he is convinced to go to Hollywood and write movie scripts. Taking a room in a run down hotel, Barton’s surroundings include peeling wallpaper and a solitary painting of a woman on a beach shielding her eyes from the sun. It’s an image that often appears throughout the film. Barton is struck with writer’s block and his cause isn’t helped by the sound of an amorous couple next door and also the laughter of an insurance salesman, Charlie Meadows (John Goodman). Charlie confronts Barton after the writer complains of a disturbance from the neighbouring room but any ill feelings are soon swept aside and the two men become friends.
While Barton cannot get any ideas for a script for a wrestling movie, he has many encounters with the creative minds in Hollywood. He reports to Capitol Pictures boss, Jack Lipnick (Michael Lerner), who has complete faith in Fink’s ability. When the ideas simply won’t come Fink hope a meeting with renowned writer W.P. Mayhew (John Maloney) will help but he finds one of his heroes is just a drunk who is abusive to his secretary and lover, Audrey (Judy Davis). With a deadline for his script looming, Barton begins to succumb to the pressure and a series of bizarre things begin to happen to him including coming into possession of a mysterious box and even Barton waking to find a dead body in his room.
Barton Fink is certainly one of the better of the Coen brothers’ films. While not reaching the heights of Raising Arizona, O Brother Where Are Thou? and The Big Lebowski, this is still a well-crafted film with a great script and some fabulous characters. It’s always fun picking out the actors that appear regularly in the Coens’ films and Barton Fink is no exception.
Verdict: 4/5
(Film source: reviewer’s own copy)
About the Author:
I was born in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England and have always been a bookworm and enjoyed creative writing at school. In 1999 I created the Elencheran Chronicles and have been writing ever since. My first novel, Fezariu's Epiphany, was published in May 2011. When not writing I'm a lover of films, games, books and blogging. I now live in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, with my wife, Donna, and our six cats - Kain, Razz, Buggles, Charlie, Bilbo and Frodo.
David M. Brown – who has written 779 posts on Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave.
