Anyone who has a good feel for Western movies -- or knows anything about the history of the Old West -- will absolutely love The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. How this collection of six beautifully-crafted and superbly acted stories escaped me when it was released, I'll never know.
The first segment, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, is absolutely hilarious, and intentionally so. It is a no-holds-barred spoof on the Hollywood Grade B Western of decades past, complete with the singing cowboy wandering aimlessly through the desert, happily singing and strumming his guitar. Played brilliantly by Tim Blake Nelson, this segment is by far the funniest of the six and is a total spoof on Old West movies from the 1940's-1950's.
The second story, Near Aldgones, starring James Franco as a down-on-his-luck bank robber, is just plain weird with a big dose of humor thrown in. It's the shortest segment of the six, but the story moves quickly and is completely enjoyable.
The third segment, The Meal Ticket, is touching and beautifully written and acted. It stars Liam Neeson as a traveling impressario and captures the harshness of life in the Old West as he travels from town to town, eking out a living with an unusual entertainment, and ends with a painfully tragic, ironic twist.
All Golds Canyon is of interest as much for the story as it is for an almost tutorial on gold prospecting and how prospectors worked to find the mother lode. It's as much an education as it is a dramatic story.
The fifth segment, The Gal Who Got Rattled, was my personal favorite of the six stories and could almost stand on its own as a short movie. It captures the dangers and difficulties of pioneers traveling by wagon train through the Great Plains, and is told against the backdrop of the budding relationship between Alice Longabaugh, who is traveling to Oregon after her brother dies on the trail, and Billy Knapp, one of the wagon masters. Their growing relationship is conveyed with sensitivity and comes across as completely believable. I still relive the surprise, tragic ending over and over again after watching this twice.
The sixth and last story, the Mortal Remains, is, in my opinion, the weakest of the lot. Although superbly acted, it rambles, and the ending does not nearly have the drama, humor or pathos of the first five stories.
The cinematography is absolutely beautiful and captures much of the unspoiled natural beauty of the Western U.S.
Overall, this compilation is an outstanding example of film making and is 100% worthwhile. It's clear that the Coen brothers are not only masterful storytellers, but they know their Westerns. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is their homage to Hollywood Westerns of the 1940'-1950's, and to the legacy of the American West itself.
The first segment, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, is absolutely hilarious, and intentionally so. It is a no-holds-barred spoof on the Hollywood Grade B Western of decades past, complete with the singing cowboy wandering aimlessly through the desert, happily singing and strumming his guitar. Played brilliantly by Tim Blake Nelson, this segment is by far the funniest of the six and is a total spoof on Old West movies from the 1940's-1950's.
The second story, Near Aldgones, starring James Franco as a down-on-his-luck bank robber, is just plain weird with a big dose of humor thrown in. It's the shortest segment of the six, but the story moves quickly and is completely enjoyable.
The third segment, The Meal Ticket, is touching and beautifully written and acted. It stars Liam Neeson as a traveling impressario and captures the harshness of life in the Old West as he travels from town to town, eking out a living with an unusual entertainment, and ends with a painfully tragic, ironic twist.
All Golds Canyon is of interest as much for the story as it is for an almost tutorial on gold prospecting and how prospectors worked to find the mother lode. It's as much an education as it is a dramatic story.
The fifth segment, The Gal Who Got Rattled, was my personal favorite of the six stories and could almost stand on its own as a short movie. It captures the dangers and difficulties of pioneers traveling by wagon train through the Great Plains, and is told against the backdrop of the budding relationship between Alice Longabaugh, who is traveling to Oregon after her brother dies on the trail, and Billy Knapp, one of the wagon masters. Their growing relationship is conveyed with sensitivity and comes across as completely believable. I still relive the surprise, tragic ending over and over again after watching this twice.
The sixth and last story, the Mortal Remains, is, in my opinion, the weakest of the lot. Although superbly acted, it rambles, and the ending does not nearly have the drama, humor or pathos of the first five stories.
The cinematography is absolutely beautiful and captures much of the unspoiled natural beauty of the Western U.S.
Overall, this compilation is an outstanding example of film making and is 100% worthwhile. It's clear that the Coen brothers are not only masterful storytellers, but they know their Westerns. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is their homage to Hollywood Westerns of the 1940'-1950's, and to the legacy of the American West itself.