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Barton Fink
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Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786302291872
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
ISBN: 6302291879
Label: 20th Century Fox
Languages: English (Original Language), Analog
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: August 18, 1993
Running Time: 116 minutes
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Theatrical Release Date: August 21, 1991
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Editorial Review:
A darkly comic ride, this intense and original 1991 offering from the Coen brothers (Fargo, Blood Simple) gleefully attacks the Hollywood system and those who seek to sell out to it, portraying the writer's suffering as a loony vision of hell. John Turturro (Miller's Crossing, Jungle Fever) plays the title character, a pretentious left-wing writer from New York City who is brought to 1930s Hollywood to write a script for a wrestling movie for palooka actor Wallace Beery. Fink thinks the job is beneath him, but his desire for acceptance gets the better of him, and he suddenly finds himself holed up in a fleabag hotel in Los Angeles, where he is almost immediately afflicted with writer's block. Various distractions begin to enter his life, first in the form of a famous southern writer (John Mahoney) whom Fink idolizes, and then his neighbor in the hotel, a seemingly amiable salesman played by John Goodman (Sea of Love, Raising Arizona). The writer turns out to be a self-loathing drunk whose secretary (Judy Davis) is the one actually doing the writing. And the neighbor, the working-class hero who Fink made his reputation writing about, may have a horrifying secret of his own. Equal parts social commentary and hilarious farce, and winner of the Best Picture, Actor, and Director prizes at the Cannes Film Festival, Barton Fink is a visionary and original comic masterpiece not to be missed. --Robert Lane
Set in Hollywood during the 1940's, "Barton Fink" is a comic satire about creative egos, flashy moguls, a travelling 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 travelling 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.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - inchoate
This is a movie by a couple of artists who later learned to do much better. You can, however, see the beginnings of their genius in this film.
The plot concerns Barton Fink, an up-and-coming New York playwright whose recent successes attract the attention of a major Hollywood mogul. After signing a lucrative contract he finds himself holed up in a creepy Hollywood Hotel.
What's unfortunate about this movie is that many scenes which probably worked quite well on paper come ... Read More
Rating:  - Tweaked 'til it screams...
The genius of The Brothers Coen lies in their ability to examine American Culture and tweak it until it screams in transcendent agony, this fine film is no exception. John Turturro, John Goodman, Judy Davis, Steve Buscemi... Imagine their faces, throw in surreal camera-craft, blast them with the contrast of bright Hollywood sunlight and still, deep, dark shadow and you get the idea.
It's set in Hollywood circa the raid on Pearl Harbor. A young and somewhat successful playwright attempts ... Read More
Rating:  - Great movie; why so few DVD features?
I liked the still gallery, but there should have been more than that and the trailers. Ah, well...Still, this is a great movie and probably has not been seen by as many people as should have seen it by now. It's not a blockbuster; it's noir and a very dark comedy about a writer who hits a nasty writer's block and then gets caught up in a madman's reign of terror.
This is also a great commentary by the Coens about the nature of Hollywood, how a writer struggles in that town, anti-Semitism, ... Read More
Rating: - Burn Hollywood to the ground...
I settled down to watch this film the other night because someone told me that it drew a lot of inspiration from `Eraserhead', and since David Lynch's classic rests firmly at the top of my favorite movies ever made I decided that `Barton Fink' was a must see for me. While the film is no where near the brilliance that was `Eraserhead' I must say that the Coen's did not disappoint (yet, with all seriousness; have they ever truly disappointed?). `Barton Fink' is truly a strange and thought provoking film that, ... Read More
Rating: - Barton Fink: I've always found that writing comes from a great inner pain.
One of the finest Coen Brothers' films, "Barton Fink" (1990) is a skillful inspired mixture of the real and unreal, the nightmarish Lynch - Kafkaesque vision of 1940s Hollywood. Barton Fink, a talented and serious New York playwright is hired by a big movie studio to write a screenplay about wrestling. Soon he finds himself in a writer block, and his hotel neighbor, chatty insurance salesman Charlie (John Goodman, one of Coens' favorite actors) tries to help him out by teaching Fink about wrestling. The situation ... Read More
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