DVD - Barton Fink

The Coen's. If you know them, you know their work, you know the quality of it. The majority of it is a hit out of the park. In a few instances they fall flat. Barton Fink is one of their hits, thankfully, as a movie about a guy trying to write a screenplay is not exactly the most interesting or new idea.

John Turturro plays the titular character, a New York City screenwriter who, after some success in plays, is brought out to Hollywood to write a screenplay. He gets put up in a mediocre hotel, where he meets a neighbor Charlie (played by John Goodman), who is obnoxious and mysterious, but always dead set on helping Barton out. As his life continues to go down hill, and Los Angeles takes more and more of his soul, Barton loses touch with reality and his duties, and his good buddy Charlie ends up being a whole world of trouble.

Barton Fink is a little slow, as most of the Coen films are, but it doesn't really matter because there's enough awesome craziness to keep you going from one point to the next. John Goodman's performance on par with his character, especially by the time you get around to the end. The Coen's manage to weave a tale about writer's block, desperation, and good and evil (of all kinds) into an enjoyable, albeit non typical, film.