- Film Review
- Reviewed By Alan Jones
-
4 out of 5
The most brilliantly observed Hollywood put-down since Day of the Locust. Only the Coen brothers would dare make such a vitriolic attack on the industry supporting them and actually get away with it. Part David Lynch, part Kafka and wholly demanding, this tale features John Turturro as the social realist playwright snapped up by 1940s Hollywood to script a Wallace Beery wrestling picture. But, even as his life collapses around him and his next-door neighbour - Roseanne's John Goodman - turns serial killer, he just can't sacrifice his ideals on the altar of commercialism. A gorgeously designed paranoid parable packed with sharp detail, great in-jokes and an Oscar-nominated performance by Michael Lerner as the studio mogul from hell.
Plot Summary
Drama starring John Turturro, John Goodman and Judy Davis. 1941: after his profound play about fishmongers becomes a Broadway hit, earnest writer Barton Fink arrives in Hollywood where he is told to script a B-movie about wrestling. In his hotel, Fink's work is interrupted by insurance salesman Charlie Meadows and he develops writer's block. But when he goes in search of inspiration, Fink becomes drawn into a nightmarish world of intrigue and murder.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Barton Fink
- John Turturro
- Charlie Meadows
- John Goodman
- Audrey Taylor
- Judy Davis
- Jack Lipnik
- Michael Lerner
- WP Mayhew
- John Mahoney
- Ben Geisler
- Tony Shalhoub
- Lou Breeze
- Jon Polito
- Chet
- Steve Buscemi
- Garland Stanford
- David Warrilow
- Detective Mastrionotti
- Richard Portnow
- Detective Deutsch
- Christopher Murney
Crew
- Director
- Joel Coen
- Share this episode
-