After his early theatrical success on Broadway, the idealistic author of the working class and self-pitying 1940s New York playwright, Barton Fink finds himself lured to dazzling Hollywood to write scripts for eccentric Jack Lipnick's Capitol Pictures. But, instead of writing a story pivoting around the common man, Fink's first screenplay turns out to be a Wallace Beery wrestling movie? Before he knows it, he develops a severe case of writer's block!! Now he is holed up in the seedy and run-down Hotel Earle before his always silent Underwood typewriter.
Barton comes to realize that his only hope to meet his deadline is to take inspiration from the burly insurance salesman living next door. This is Charlie Meadows and his unassuming secretary, Audrey Taylor. In the meantime, the suffocating stranglehold of artistic bankruptcy tightens. Does self-destructive Barton Fink have the stomach for confronting Hollywood's bitter reality? Barton Fink is packed full of symbolism, allegory and open-ended questions. It’s about one man's struggles as a screenwriter in Hollywood. This film is realism and surrealism, comedy and tragedy. It wills you to discern meaning behind images and lines. Joel and Ethan Coen tease the viewer with a multitude of possible interpretations of their story and its characters. Littered with references to other films, novels and poems, the viewing experience is overwhelming but rewarding.
There are exhilarating performances from John Turturro, John Goodman, Michael Lerner and Judy Davis. This is very much a character driven piece. It explores the "life of the mind" from different angles and we are introduced to a variety of characters. Each has their own issues and secrets. Barton Fink (Turturro) is a successful Broadway playwright and he is asked by Capitol Pictures to write movie scripts for them in Hollywood. He agrees but reluctantly and he checks himself into the Hotel Earle (where he meets bellhop Chet, played by Steve Buscemi). He wants to avoid the flamboyant world of Hollywood money and Fink hides himself away in this obscure and dilapidated hotel. This is a place where the wallpaper peels off the walls and the bed's springs creak. 3 1/2* (I liked this movie)
116 min, Comedy directed and written by Joel and Ethan Coen with John Turturro, John Goodman, Judy Davis, Michael Lerner, John Mahoney, Tony Shalhoub, Jon Polito, Steve Buscemi, David Warrilow, Richard Portnow, Christopher Murney, I.M. Hobson, Meagen Fay, Lance David, Harry Bugin.
Note: Imdb 7.7* out of 10* with 114,416 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes 90% with 60 critic reviews 89% with 25,000+ audience scores, Letterboxd 4* out of 5* with 492 fans, Roger Ebert 3 1/2*, Metacritic 69 out of 100 with 19 critic reviews, 8.4* out of 10* with 111 user scores, Amazon 4.5* out of 5* with 662 reviews, Common Sense Media Kelly Kessler, 4* out of 5*, age 17+.
Special Note: The first film to win all three major awards, Palme D'or, Best Director and Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival. John Turturro took classes at a secretarial school to learn how to use a typewriter for his role. Between takes, he wrote a rough outline for Romance & Cigarettes (2005). It was written on the same typewriter he used in the film. The Coen brothers executive produced Romance & Cigarettes. The first voice heard in the movie, an actor on the stage performing Barton's play is John Turturro. The parts played by John Turturro, John Goodman, Jon Polito and Steve Buscemi were all written with these actors in mind. Written by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen after a trip to see Baby Boom (1987) while suffering writer's block writing Miller’s Crossing (1990).
Mistakes: Colonel Lipnick's uniform contains awards created after 1941, including a Master Parachutist Badge (1949) and the Combat Infantryman's Badge (1943). Briefly visible at the top of the screen when Detective Mastrionotti introduces himself to Barton (visible in Kino Video's Blu-ray Disc which is in the 1.66:1 aspect ratio and may not be visible in other versions). Charlie's (John Goodman's) leaking ear infection changes sides and mysteriously spreads from his right ear to his left after he returns from one of his enigmatic trips. After Barton tacks up the first strip of wallpaper, he smooths out the second strip and, in close-up we see that the first thumbtack is not there. In one of the final shots of Colonel Lipnick in uniform, the bottom two rows of his ribbons have come loose and are hanging from one side. In the last shot, his ribbons have been fixed.
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