Barton Fink

Reviewed by:
Paul Ulane

It’s the 1930s and playwright Barton Fink (John Turturro) has a mean case of writer’s block. His headache only gets worse when he leaves the friendly confines of Manhattan and heads to Hollywood to write his first big-budget movie script. Soon, the frustrated scribe has to deal with a change of scenery, a bunch of weird characters (fantastic contributions from Steve Buscemi, John Goodman, and the father from Frasier), and a murder here and there. While the DVD’s extras aren’t much of a draw, the movie itself is worth enjoying a couple times over. After that, take in a host of “deleted scenes”—most of which appear in the movie in slightly different form—and stills of John Turturro dressed like a dork (in character) surrounded by the crew dressed like dorks (because it’s 1991). Rounding out the offerings are some nostalgic good times in the full-length theatrical trailers for a couple of other Coen brothers classics, Miller’s Crossing and Raising Arizona.