Review Cohen Brothers Reviewed

After "No Country For Old Men" I declared that the Cohen Brothers were my favorite directors. I haven't seen all of their movies and I haven't loved (or even liked) all of their movies but there has been consistent and long lasting greatness in their career in entertainment, talent and message.

Entertainment means did I actually like watching the movie. Lots of things can be entertaining... I mean I actually enjoy "Wild Strawberries." This grade is 50% did I enjoy it and 50% do I think others would.

Talent means that the movie is well directed, acted and written. "Memento" would get a good grade here but not everywhere else.

Message means that I affirm and agree with what I believe the movie to be "really about." Some messages, like Sandler's family values, are almost accidental and who cares what "Ace Ventura Pet Detective" was about. But generally if a movie doesn't get a good grade here I won't re-watch it or own it. I remember my first viewing of "The Godfather" as one of the best movie experiences of my life but do I need to see it again and again? Not really.

So here is a quick grading of the Cohen Brothers movies I've seen:

"Raising Arizona"
Ent: B+
Tal: B
Mes: B+
It has been a long long time since I've seen it so I was conservative with the grades. Chances are pretty good if I saw it again I would bump all those grades up a notch.

"Miller's Crossing"
Ent: B-
Tal: B
Mes: B+
I've only seen it twice. It was like a regular mobster movie except there is some kind of existential dilemma that confuses things. That struggle makes it less enjoyable but more meaningful.

"Barton Fink"
Ent: D
Tal: B
Mes: B-
This movie is everything people hate about movie snobs. The only reason it didn't get an F in entertainment is because if you are a movie snob you probably LOVED it. Still John Turturro is an amazing actor. He seems so natural to these awful art pieces but fit right into "Transformers" That in itself is worth five Oscars.

"The Hudsucker Proxy"
Ent: A+
Tal: A-
Mes: A-
Let the era of greatness begin! This was my favorite movie from '94 till I saw "Rocky" in 02. Talent was in some ways only good (B grade) but Jennifer Jason Leigh is unbelievably great and the set design is like a 1950s fairy tale.

"Fargo"
Ent: B
Tal: A
Mes: A
I'm glad it took me so long to see this movie. If I had seen it in 96 I'd have missed the key strengths. In some ways it is "Miller's Crossing", a crime movie with an existential dilemma, except that the message is seamlessly drawn in the movie.

"The Big Lebowski"
Ent: A
Tal: A
Mes: B+
This movie should get lower grades in entertainment and talent and ought to be like a much better "Barton Fink" except for that for some reason a lot of people "got it." I don't know why they got it but the results are undeniable. It was from this movie that I finally discovered the consistent theme of Cohen brother movies.

"O Brother, Where Art Thou?"
Ent: B+
Tal: B+
Mes: A
The popularity of this movie gives it a slightly better grade. It was also from this one that I learned that a consistent feature of Cohen brother movies is that they get better and better with re-watches unlike many Wes Anderson movies.

"Intolerable Cruelty"
Ent: B-
Tal: C
Mes: C+
I don't even like to think of it as a Cohen brother's movie. It is mediocre, Clooney is always charasmatic but can not make it re-watchable. I think this one was tampered by the Zeta-Jones' people.

"The Lady Killers"
Ent: C
Tal: C
Mes: C+
Maybe Hanks has people too, but this one is nothing great. I think the ending was what it ought to have been... but that is about all I could say about this one. It isn't bad but adds nothing.

"No Country For Old Men"
Ent: A
Tal: A
Mes: A+
Similiar to "Miller's Crossing" again in that it is a crime movie with the existential dilmia. But this time it is not seemlessly encorporated but hits you like "the stonethe builders rejected." But where "Fargo" exceeded in existential dilemia this exceeded in crime movie. Muffin hated Chigurh thinking he was supposed to be "pimp" but the Cohen's don't have "pimp" bad guys. The bad guys are always chumps. His rejection of the character is what people ought to have all done.

"Burn After Reading"
Ent: C+
Tal: C+
Mes: C
...meh. Maybe this one will make more sense when I have been middle age delt with the mid-life issues that these guys are dealing with. I am pretty sure the characters are supposed to be charactures of mid-life conflicts. I think the message is that none of these characters get it right. Inferior but not embaressingly so.