Kooky Coens can be hit or miss
Thank the Coen brothers for the first legitimately interesting movie release of 2016.
Their new comedy,“Hail, Caesar!” opens today, boasting the likes of George Clooney, Scarlett Johansson and Josh Brolin.
It follows a movie studio “fixer” (Brolin) in 1950s Hollywood trying to defuse a kidnapping plot involving the studio’s star actor (Clooney, obviously).
As with any Coen project, the movie looks promising and has so far earned decent reviews. The multiple Oscar-winning brothers have a long list of certifiable classics — “Fargo,” “No Country for Old Men” and "O Brother, Where Art Thou?” to name a few. While their dramas (and restrained comedies) rarely disappoint, the filmography becomes a bit inconsistent when the silliness is amplified.
For comparison sake, here’s a less-than-definitive ranking of zany Coen brothers comedies. I excluded “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” and other select titles because they don’t quite fit the category of “Coens Goofing Around.” Then again, one could argue that even these films films do much more than fit such reductive categorization.
"The Big Lebowski" (1998) The gold standard of Coen brothers absurdity, with Jeff Bridges gifting the world with one of cinema’s great characters. Endlessly quotable with a rich cast of supporting players (John Goodman and Steve Buscemi especially), “Lebowski” endures more than most comedies of the 1990s. The Dude abides.
"Raising Arizona" (1987) Few things are better than 80s-era Nicolas Cage, and he’s reliably Cagey as an ex-con who falls in love with Holly Hunter then kidnaps a baby for her.
Just imagine if the Coens kept working with Cage, or even better, directed him in 1988’s “Vampire’s Kiss,” a movie that will help you forgive every subpar Cage movie in the last decade. “Raising Arizona” is good too.
"Burn After Reading" (2008) The plot of this sorta-caper involves a disgruntled CIA analyst (John Malkovich), an aloof U.S. Marshal (Clooney) and a couple of idiotic fitness trainers (Frances McDormand and an especially goofy Brad Pitt) circling a disc of possible state secrets.
The cast is terrific, even if the plot essentially amounts to a J.K. Simmons-delivered punchline.
"The Hudsucker Proxy" (1994) The incomparable Paul Newman is the highlight of this bizarre story of a mailroom nobody-turned-genius-Hula-Hoop-inventor (Tim Robbins). Newman plays a villainous supporting role in a movie filled with stylistic energy, but it lacks cohesive momentum. It has its supporters, however.
"Intolerable Cruelty" (2003) Clooney plays a suave divorce attorney who spars with a seductive gold digger, played by Catherine Zeta-Jones, at the peak of her magnetic powers.
Clooney and Zeta-Jones flirt with each other admirably, but the film’s messy plotting only results in sporadic laughs.
"The Ladykillers" (2004) Probably the only Coen brothers movie that I would consider an outright failure. Tom Hanks takes Southern eccentricity to obnoxious levels as the leader of a gang planning a casino heist while renting out an old lady’s basement.
Things go horribly wrong, as they often do in the Coen universe. It just isn’t particularly funny or engaging.
Rather than leave things on a negative note, here are my Top Five Coen brothers movies: 1. “Fargo.” It does everything right, and there’s no other movie quite like it. The TV show is exceptional too. 2. “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” 3. “No Country for Old Men” 4. “The Big Lebowski” 5. “Inside Llewyn Davis”
Tyler Wilson can be reached at twilson@cdapress.com