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Overview
User Rating:
Writers:
Joel Coen (written by) &
Ethan Coen (written by)
Release Date:
21 August 1991 (USA) more
Tagline:
Between Heaven and Hell There's Always Hollywood! more
Plot:
In 1941, New York intellectual playwright Barton Fink comes to Hollywood to write a Wallace Beery wrestling picture... more | add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 13 wins & 2 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(39 articles)
Halfway House: Oh Suzanne-ah
(From FilmExperience. 3 November 2009, 9:00 AM, PST)
A Serious Man Review
(From Collider.com. 15 October 2009, 8:57 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
Classic dark comedy spoofs Hollywood hacks, literati alike more (170 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| John Turturro | ... | Barton Fink | |
| John Goodman | ... | Charlie Meadows | |
| Judy Davis | ... | Audrey Taylor | |
| Michael Lerner | ... | Jack Lipnick | |
| John Mahoney | ... | W.P. Mayhew | |
| Tony Shalhoub | ... | Ben Geisler | |
| Jon Polito | ... | Lou Breeze | |
| Steve Buscemi | ... | Chet | |
| David Warrilow | ... | Garland Stanford | |
| Richard Portnow | ... | Detective Mastrionotti | |
| Christopher Murney | ... | Detective Deutsch | |
| I.M. Hobson | ... | Derek | |
| Meagen Fay | ... | Poppy Carnahan (as Megan Faye) | |
| Lance Davis | ... | Richard St. Claire | |
| Harry Bugin | ... | Pete |
Additional Details
MPAA:
Rated R for language and some scenes of violence.
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
116 min
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.66 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
France:U | Brazil:16 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-14 | Germany:16 (bw) | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:15 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #31095) | Iceland:12
Filming Locations:
Ambassador Hotel - 3400 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA more
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Karl Mundt (Charlie Meadows' murderous alter ego) is also the name of the vice chairman of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), responsible for the Hollywood blacklist. In the forties, HUAC crushed the livelihood of screenwriters, actors, etc. who had alleged socialist leanings, as Barton Fink clearly did in the film. more
Goofs:
Continuity: When Audrey visits Barton at his hotel room, she sits on the bed and puts her hat on the bed to her left and leaves it there. When Barton sits down beside her, the hat is gone. more
Quotes:
Ben Geisler: Think about it, Fink! Writers come and go; we always need Indians! more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Cinematographer Style (2006) more
Soundtrack:
DOWN SOUTH CAMP MEETING more
FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (170 total)
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Barton Fink (1991)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
|---|---|
| Tony Shalhoub | nashby5 |
| Hotel Earle | Li_Corn3 |
| WHAT IS IN THE BOX?? | lucafik |
| Barton Fink + David Lynch | estockme |
| Barton's Parents + Uncle | robcoates20 |
| Audrey | VinnyG113 |
Recommendations
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| Wild at Heart | Batman Begins | American Psycho | The Shining | The Aviator |
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Related Links
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| News articles | IMDb Comedy section | IMDb USA section |
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This is a satire which really eviscerates its main character, nebbish Barton Fink, a semi-successful, very Jewish New York playwright who comes to Hollywood to make his dreams come true, which in his case is definately not writing the next Wallace Beery wrestling picture. There are just too many funny things in this movie to mention them all, so I won't mention any. But this is a movie that is going to stand up to the test of time; it may be the Coen brothers' best movie, because it is both dead funny and dead serious.
Turturro gives the performance of a lifetime as Barton, and Goodman proved with this movie that he was a first class acting talent (what made the Coens think of him in this role, anyway? surely a mark of genius). Davis also shows herself off extremely well, in one of this underrated actresses finest roles.
There is, simply put, no better satire of Hollywood, and none that I can think of that so successfully manages to also spoof the pretentions of those who despise it.