Barton Fink (1991)
90%RT Audience Score: 89%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 3 Oscars
19 wins & 30 nominations total
Twisty and unsettling, the Coen brothers’ satirical tale of a 1940s playwright struggling with writer’s block is packed with their trademark sense of humor and terrific performances from its cast.
Barton Fink is a wild ride that will leave you questioning everything you thought you knew about Hollywood. With its gnomic and hallucinatory style, it’s the kind of movie that will have you arguing with your friends over three espressos. But don’t worry, you won’t be alone in your confusion – even the main character, Barton Fink, is left isolated and paranoid in this fascinating potion of a film. So buckle up and get ready for a deep dive into the minds of the Coen brothers.
Production Company(ies)
Vendôme Pictures, Pathé Films, Picture Perfect Federation
Distributor
20th Century Fox
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
The Wiltern – 3790 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for language and some scenes of violence
Year of Release
1991
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Stereo
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 56m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Aug 1, 1991 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 1, 2005
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring John Turturro, John Goodman, Judy Davis, Michael Lerner, John Mahoney, Tony Shalhoub, directed by Joel Coen, written by Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, drama, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Adam Nayman, Gene Siskel, Owen Gleiberman, Richard Schickel, David Ansen, Quentin Crisp, produced by Ethan Coen and Graham Place, MPAA rating R, intellectual, writer’s block, 1940s, B-movie script, neighbor, satirical, sense of humor, terrific performances, Glengarry Glen Ross, Short Cuts, No Man’s Land, The Man Who Wasn’t There, 20th Century Fox, Surround, Dolby Stereo, Flat (1.66:1), twisty, unsettling, Coen brothers, Charlie Meadows, Audrey Taylor, Jack Lipnick, W.P Mayhew, Ben Geisler
Worldwide gross: $6,153,939
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $13,584,150
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,858
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 1,481,369
US/Canada gross: $6,153,939
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $13,584,150
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,519
US/Canada opening weekend: $268,561
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $592,819
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,367
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $9,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $19,866,520
Production budget ranking: 1,373
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $10,698,121
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$16,980,491
ROI to date (est.): -56%
ROI ranking: 1,721
John Goodman – Charlie Meadows
Judy Davis – Audrey Taylor
Michael Lerner – Jack Lipnick
John Mahoney – W.P. Mayhew
Tony Shalhoub – Ben Geisler
Director(s)
Joel Coen
Writer(s)
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Producer(s)
Ethan Coen, Graham Place
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 3 Oscars
19 wins & 30 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (64) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (58) | Rotten (6)
Barton Fink is one for the record books.
April 6, 2020
Adam Nayman
The Ringer
TOP CRITIC
It’s at its best when young Barton Fink simply stares at a picture of a bathing beauty contemplating the ocean — a Hollywood dream.
January 16, 2013 | Rating: 3.5/4
Gene Siskel
Chicago Tribune
TOP CRITIC
September 7, 2011 | Rating: B
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
TOP CRITIC
Gnomic, claustrophobic, hallucinatory, just plain weird, it is the kind of movie critics can soak up thousands of words analyzing and cinephiles can soak up at least three espressos arguing their way through.
October 13, 2009
Richard Schickel
TIME Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Again the Coens take familiar movie tropes and twist them into something new. This may be their most haunting movie.
October 18, 2008
David Ansen
Newsweek
TOP CRITIC
Scene after scene is filled with a ferocious strength and humor.
November 6, 2007
Variety Staff
Variety
TOP CRITIC
It has the best dialogue I have heard in a long time — witty without being jokey.
April 6, 2022
Quentin Crisp
Christopher Street
Ever readable, Barton Fink mixes a fascinating potion of isolation, paranoia, and anxiety, as well as a harsh dose of uncertainty for our unfortunate writer.
February 14, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Brian Eggert
Deep Focus Review
Edgy, innovative, and often ambiguous in its intentions.
October 30, 2021 | Rating: 3.5/4
Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy
A deep dive into the life of the mind-or at least the minds of Joel and Ethan Coen.
May 22, 2021 | Rating: 3.5/4
Josh Larsen
LarsenOnFilm
It’s often impossible to tell if we’re watching a particularly morbid dark comedy, or a particularly hilarious tragedy.
May 11, 2020 | Rating: 5/5
Tim Brayton
Alternate Ending
In their dark comic masterpiece “Bartin Fink,” [The Coens] draw the line between artistic integrity and artistic smugness.
January 7, 2019 | Rating: 10/10
Gary Shannon
The Young Folks…
Plot
In the wake of his early but undeniable theatrical success in Broadway, the idealistic author of the proletariat 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, and, before he knows it, he develops a severe case of writer’s block. Now, holed up in the seedy, run-down Hotel Earle, before his silent Underwood typewriter, Barton comes to realise that his only hope to meet the deadline is to take inspiration from the burly insurance salesman living next door, Charlie Meadows, and the 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?
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
John Turturro delivers a captivating performance as Barton Fink in this Coen brothers’ film.
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