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Or Cormac McCarthy fans. Or both. Be sure to check out the trailer for 'No Country for Old Men'. A trailer is not a movie (and this is a good trailer) but with the Coens, at least there's hope. Hope, that is, that they'll do a better job than Billy Bob Thornton did with the disappointing 'All the Pretty Horses'.
Follow Ups:
-------------"I have found that if you love life, life will love you back." -Arthur Rubinstein (1887-1982)
They've only done three movies since 'O' Brother', and one of those I really enjoyed ('The Man Who Wasn't There'), due mainly to Billy Bob's acting, and the superb black and white filmography.
I'd give 'Intolerable Cruelty' a "Worth Seeing". Yes, it's a fluffy throwaway, but it has it's moments. Just nowhere near as clever as their other comedies, like 'Raising Arizona'.
Which leaves 'Ladykillers'. And you're right, it's a dog.
I think most of the issue is that they raised their own bar so high that when they don't reach the same level, their films seem mediocre in comparison.
What'd ya think of that trailer? Kind of 'Blood Simple'-like.
I didn't like Man Who Wasn't There. In fact I disliked it. I saw it as a copout and an unwitting indictment of my generation--how shallowness and bullshit masquerade as depth. It was a bad story. Yeah, the style, directing and writing were there, but not the substance.
I think the Coen bros wrote their own destiny in Barton Fink (one of my absolute favorite films with stunning visual depth and symbolism). The protagonist goes to hollywood to capitalize on his success as a New York playwright. He attributes this success to his bond with the "common man" and is apprehensive about hopping to the west coast. By the end of the film he is wandering around a beach carrying someone else's head, while the contents of his own head are no longer his but a studio tycoon's.
-------------"I have found that if you love life, life will love you back." -Arthur Rubinstein (1887-1982)
I've gotta agree with James below-you read a lot more into this movie than I did! Sometimes a film is just, well, a movie, not a treatise on the State of Mankind. You admit the style, directing and writing are good-I'd also add the acting and cinematography. To me that sounds like a good movie, though not necessarily a great film.
At the end of the day, for whatever reason, you didn't like it. Though far from my favorite Coen film, for me it was certainly not a waste of two hours. C'est la vie.
"I saw it as a copout and an unwitting indictment of my generation--how shallowness and bullshit masquerade as depth. It was a bad story."I think the the extra features, which include an interview with the Coen Brothers, gives a clue into their psyche. It was obvious, to me, that the joke, to them, was that a man would commit the murderous acts so that he could be a dry cleaner. I think that they simply dressed up this silly premise in some great camera work and cinematography, and with a serious Thornton. I do not think they intended anything more than that.
I realize you wrote that the film was an "unwitting" indictment. Well, having seen numerous interviews with the Coens, I think they are too smart to do anything "unwittingly." And social commentary seems not too important to them.
With respect to their later films, you should note that with both Intolerable Cruelty and The Lady Killers, both disappointments in my view, there were other producers, and, as I recall, both films were made within the Hollywood system. I am not sure why the change in direction, but it appears there were other non-Coens with their hands in the cookie jar, which left a bad taste. Hopefully, that changes with their next film.
great characterizations and Frances McDormand is wonderful as always
A Coen Brothers film does make for high expectation and "Old Men" may raise the bar yet again ( can't wait! )Grins
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