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KLMNO MOVIEREVIEWS The Coen collection, critically appraised BY ANN HORNADAY


Movie critics have the best job in theworld.Until someone asks themto rank their favorite Coen brothersmovies, in order, all 15 (counting “TrueGrit,”which openedWednesday).Num- bered. For the record.Until the end of time. ¶ Askme a hard one,why don’t you?! ¶ I’vewithstood the controversy that swirled around “The Passion of the Christ.” I stood up against the legions of Beatles fanswho begged to differwithmy assessment of “Across theUniverse.” I’mstill getting e-mails questioning (to put it politely) howI could call the quirky comedy “Ad-


ventureland” “hilarious!” I cheerfully claimedmy lifetime get-out-of-jail-free card formy inexplicable but enduring affection for “Death to Smoochy.” ¶ But nothing, I guarantee, has pre- paredme for the hue, cry and buzz sawI’mabout to encounter as Iwalk this cinematic plank. Pray forme. (Oh, and Iwas right about “Across theUniverse.”) ¶Herewithmy favorite Coen brothersmovies, ranked in descending order of howeager Iwould be towatch themagain at the drop of a hat (which everyone knows ismuch less foolish than aman chasing his hat):


SUNDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2010


GRAMMERCY PICTURES VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS 1


“Fargo” (1996) This choice reminds me of a cartoon I saw once, where two gorillas are eating bananas and one says to the other, “I know everyone loves bananas, but I really love bananas.” I really


love “Fargo.” The wintry atmospherics, theMinnesota accents (they’re my people, I can vouch that these were spot on), the absorbing story line, Carter Burwell’s grave, melancholy musical score. But mostly I love “Fargo” for the gift of Marge Gunderson (played with sensitivity and implacable force by the sublime Frances McDormand), who so perfectly personified the movie’s balance between dark comedy and deep moral seriousness.


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TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX


“Miller’s Crossing” (1990) If I weren’t so amused by the fact that Newt Gingrich and I agree on something, I might have made this oneNo. 1, if only toremindreaders of its elegance, style,humorand


irresistible leading man in Gabriel Byrne. You know him now as a conflicted therapist onHBO, but in this Prohibition-era noir drama, he was a young man laconically navigating a dark underworld of crime and forbidden desires.Aflawless example of the Coens’ style harmoniz- ing sweetly with the subject at hand.


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CIRCLE FILMS/TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX


“Raising Arizona” (1987) I understand some viewers’ quibbles that this satire on baby lust goes off the rails (most often thanks to JohnGoodman’s strident performance as a hulking, hirsute prison


escapee), but I have a weakness for its bent humor and an affinity for the shots it takes at kids-as-commodities culture. Plus those deathless lines: “Edwina’s insides were a rocky place wheremy seed could find no purchase.” “There’s what’s right and there’s what’s right and never the twain shall meet.” “I just love biblical names. If I had another little boy, I’d name him Jason, Caleb or Tab.” Perfection.


©USA FILMS 4


“Blood Simple” (1984) The Coens’ assured, astonishing debut film, a gritty piece of Texas noir that can still scare the jujubes out of you.Asmall, spare masterpiece of atmosphere, taut pacing and screen acting fromMcDormand and M.EmmetWalsh. Shivers.


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TOUCHSTONE PICTURES/UNIVERSAL STUDIOS


“O Brother, Where Art Thou?” (2000) The Coens have their weaknesses, and one of them is re-creatingHollywood genres less as works of genuine feeling than facile pastiche. This, happily, is a


work of genuine feeling, even if they’re just paying homage to better films. For the real thing, I still prefer “Sullivan’s Travels,” but for a respectable nod to Preston Sturges and “The Odyssey,” this sepia-toned period piece possesses a jaunty, infectious joie de vivre — not to mention George Clooney pulling off a dapper Clark Gable mustache. Extra points for giving Ralph Stanley a richly deserved comeback on T Bone Burnett’s gorgeous old-timey soundtrack.


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TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX


“Barton Fink” (1991)The writer’s friend.Anyonewhohas suffered through writer’s block — or through a high-concept Hollywood star vehicle with no redeeming artistic value — appreciates this


ode to cruelly thwarted creativity. For cineastes it’s another of the Coens’ fascinating plunges into show business lore, in this case the story of Clifford Odets and other playwrights, novelists and journalists who came to the Los Angeles colony only to learn it’s where dreams come to die.


FOCUS FEATURES 7


“Burn After Reading” (2008) I say this is a funnier movie than “The Big Lebowski,” and I’ll stand on Jeff Bridges’s coffee table in Brad Pitt’s cowboy boots to say that. In fact, it’s Pitt’s all-out


performance as a dimwitted gym rat that helped put this cockamamie cavalcade of slapstick, sex comedy and political satire over the looney-toons top.


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PARAMOUNT PICTURES


“True Grit” (2010) There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this stately, beautifully crafted western, which features a breakout performance from young Hailee Steinfeld as a character who


could be Marge Gunderson’s great-great-grandmother. Kudos to Matt Damonfor scene-stealing support.The Coens lose points only for doing a remake of an already great movie — not the best use of their considerable gifts.


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JIM BRIDGES/WARNER BROS.


“TheHudsuckerProxy” (1994)Thismanneredperiodcomedy—a takeoff on such rat-a-tat-tat two-handers as “The Front Page” — would have been higher on the list if it weren’t for Jennifer Jason


Leigh’s nails-on-a-chalkboardKatharineHepburn imitation.The hilar- iously gruff presence of PaulNewmanas a no-nonsense corporate boss andTimRobbins’s bumbling-genius naif save the day. Extra points for a dazzling production design.


MELINDA SUE GORDON/UNIVERSAL STUDIOS 10


“Intolerable Cruelty” (2003) Yes, I’m putting this ahead of “The Big Lebowski,” and I’ll stand on Jeff Bridges’s . . . oh well. Someone’s got to stand up for this admittedly middling


screwball comedy, which sent critics and viewers skittering in all directions when it was released. Maybe it tries too hard to clear its verbal high bars, but it gets an A-minus for effort. I’mgoing to allow it.


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MERRICK MORTON/GRAMERCY PICTURES


“The Big Lebowski” (1998) You’ve probably surmised that I’min that minority of Coenphileswhofailed to grasp the charm of this loud, labored, labyrinthine exercise in self-indulgence, amusing


references to the Port Huron Statement notwithstanding. I love the Dude as much as anyone, but the self-conscious quirkiness quickly palls. I’ll keep trying, I promise, but for now—I still don’t get it.


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WILSON WEBB/FOCUS FEATURES


“A Serious Man” (2009) This retelling of the biblical story of Job featured a captivatingly nebbishy central performance by Michael Stuhlbarg and a finely tuned understanding of mid-


century Jewish life inMinnesota, but the net effect of countless sharply observed details still amounted to very little. Accept the mystery, and this is a pleasant-enough diversion within the Coen canon. Ask for me, and ye shall not receive.


MELINDA SUE GORDON/ASSOCIATED PRESS 13


“TheManWhoWasn’t There” (2001) Another noir style-for-its- own-sake exercise—pretentious, empty and agonizingly slow.


14 ONWASHINGTONPOST.COM 6


RICHARD FOREMAN/MIRAMAX VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS


“No Country for Old Men” (2007) A technically perfect movie in which the Coens deploy every cinematic element at their disposal — writing, cinematography, editing, sound, perfor-


mances—with the virtuosity of artists at the height of their powers. All to follow around a serial killer blowing people away with a cattle stun gun. Sorry, not worth it.


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TOUCHSTONE PICTURES


“TheLadykillers” (2004)Apointlessremakeemblematic of the Coens’ weaknesses for empty style, pointless remakes and treading water between more original projects. hornadaya@washpost.com


To see how others rank the Coen brothers’ films and to add your own vote, go to washingtonpost.com/style.


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