This week our movie guy, James Finnegan, takes a look at three films from the wonderfully talented and successful Coen Brothers…
Joel and Ethan write, direct and produce their films jointly. They mix and match many genres and styles, and there are three available on Netflix that give a good sense of their range and versatility
First up is, in my view, a throwback to those 1940 screwball comedies that usually starred Cary Grant.
Intolerable Cruelty stars George Clooney as Divorce Lawyer Miles Massey, who is renowned for the unbreakable ‘Massey Pre-nup’.
When he comes up against scheming, money grabbing, serial bride, Marylin Rexroth, played by Catherine Zeta-Jones, an unstoppable force meets an immovable object, especially when Miles falls for Marylin.
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This is a very funny and underappreciated comedy that makes full use of its stars’ charismatic deadpan delivery.
The usual Coen supporting cast play their part in moving the story along at a brisk pace. Does true love win? You will have to watch to find out.
The next film could not be more different in style and content. Also, No Country for Old Men is, simply, one of the finest films ever made.
Vietnam Veteran Llewellyn Moss, played by Josh Brolin, finds and decides to keep over two million dollars in drug money.
As you can imagine, that turns out to be not the wisest move, as he is pursued by a determined, enigmatic killer, Anton Chigurh, with his own unique code of conduct.
Chigurh is played by Javier Barden, who deservedly won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, and is the scariest baddie since Hannibal Lecter.
Both Moss and Chigurh are also being tracked by local Sheriff Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) who is struggling to understand the eruption of violence happening around him.
The vast southern Texas landscape is shown at its best, with stunning camerawork and photography.
This deservedly won Best Picture, Best Director (shared for the first time) and Best Adapted Screenplay. However, be warned. There is violence here on a scale reminiscent of a Peckinpah film.
Last, but by no means least, is True Grit. This Coen version is much more faithful to the original Charles Portis novel than the 1969 John Wayne film.
Fourteen year old Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) wants to hire Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to track down outlaw Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin) for the murder of her father.
Texas Ranger LaBoeuf (Matt Damon) is also on the trail of Chaney for the murder of a State Senator.
Bridges plays a far more nuanced Rooster than Wayne in this version, the Mattie Ross central character is much more believable thanks to a splendid performance by Steinfeld, and the story is the better for it.
This film received numerous Award nominations and in other years would have won many of them. It is not the usual quirky eccentric Coen style, but it is a superior Western, and we can’t have enough of them. Enjoy, and stay safe!