# Best Coen Brothers movie
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-coen-brothers-movie/131538
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [October 9, 2002, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-coen-brothers-movie/131538 "2002-10-09T14:35:27Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2002, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-coen-brothers-movie/131538/21 "2002-10-10T01:06:43Z")
Oh, man. Gotta reply to this one.
I’m gonna rank 'em by personal favorite, but I have to say that IMO there is not one truly bad Coen Bros. film; not a one. Anyway, here goes.
Miller’s Crossing
The Big Lebowski
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Fargo
Raising Arizona
Blood Simple
The Man Who Wasn’t There
The Hudsucker Proxy
Barton Fink
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### Author:  [@Wumpus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wumpus)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2002, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-coen-brothers-movie/131538/22 "2002-10-10T01:51:20Z")
Guess my ranking would be:
Miller’s Crossing
Barton Fink
Fargo
The Big Lebowski
Blood Simple
O Brother Where Art Thou?
Raising Arizona
The Man Who Wasn’t There
The Hudsucker Proxy
But there’s not a real stinker in the bunch.
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### Author:  [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2002, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-coen-brothers-movie/131538/23 "2002-10-10T02:56:53Z")
> [@](#):
>
> _kingpengvin_
> I’ll second Miller’s Crossing where else will you find a movie that makes such a big deal about hats just to get the film critics to search for meaning.
I took the hats thing as an admission of the source of the story (Hammett).
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### Author:  [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2002, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-coen-brothers-movie/131538/24 "2002-10-10T03:26:05Z")
The Coen Bros are my favorite filmmakers, so I’ll just cut it short and say:_Raising Arizona_, because that was the point they changed everything, and set the tone for steadycam zooms and odd characters. Amen.
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### Author:  [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2002, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-coen-brothers-movie/131538/25 "2002-10-10T05:40:46Z")
I can’t pick. They’re all so brilliant\*. And they never seem to repeat themselves.
\*Except for one. Lump me in with those who dislike _Hudsucker_. I find it unwatchable because of Jennifer Jason Leigh’s accent. Whenever she does accents, she drives me crazy.
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### Author:  [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2002, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-coen-brothers-movie/131538/26 "2002-10-10T05:52:06Z")
Well, **Miller’s Crossing** gets my vote as the best movie ever made, for many of the same reasons as **thermalribbon** mentioned. I can still vividly remember seeing it for the first time, my jaw hanging open pretty much from start to finish.
But for the others, it’s close. To rank them:
_Raising Arizona_
_Blood Simple_
_The Big Lebowski_
_O Brother, Where Art Thou?_
_Fargo_
then
_The Man Who Wasn’t There_ – didn’t do a whole lot for me, but it was well-made.
and then the ones I really don’t like:
_The Hudsucker Proxy_ – I really appreciate what they were trying to do, and there are some great moments. But the movie feels like a premise stretched way too far; they’ve done the screwball comedy homage much better as elements of other movies. And I **hated** Jennifer Jason Leigh – her performance was straight out of a high school drama club’s production of _His Girl Friday_. How she got to be so over-rated as an actress is beyond me.
_Barton Fink_ – again, I appreciate what they were trying to do but hate the movie.
And **vibrotronica** , I know what you’re saying about Coen-bashers. A friend of mine is always saying the same thing, how they’re cold and condescending to their characters. The thing is, she says it’s especially true in _Fargo_, which is I think the **first** movie they’ve done with truly sympathetic characters!
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### Author:  [@Atreyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atreyu)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2002, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-coen-brothers-movie/131538/27 "2002-10-10T06:38:21Z")
For many years, **Raising Arizona** was far and away my favorite comedy.
Then along came **The Big Lebowski**. It kills me every time I watch it.
My faves, in order:
**The Big Lebowski**
**Fargo**
**Raising Arizona**
**O Brother, Where Art Thou?**
**Blood Simple**
**Hudsucker Proxy** I have only seen once. It didn’t click with me, but I’m willing to give it another chance.
I have only seen **Miller’s Crossing** and **Barton Fink** once, and that was years ago in both cases. I’ll need to see them again to refresh my memory.
Haven’t seen **The Man Who Wasn’t There** , but am planning on rectifying that little error when I can.
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### Author:  [@Juniper200](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Juniper200)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2002, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-coen-brothers-movie/131538/28 "2002-10-10T06:53:12Z")
To those of you with little love for **Hudsucker** , I must point out that it contains Bruce Campbell, which automatically adds several points to its coolness rating. You know, just in case you forgot.
Re: the OP. I like **Miller’s Crossing** best, but **The Man Who Wasn’t There** has such a great _look_ that it scores high based on cinematography alone.
(“I didn’t know it would cause this much _hoop_la!”)
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### Author:  [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2002, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-coen-brothers-movie/131538/29 "2002-10-10T11:07:44Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Re: the OP. I like **Miller’s Crossing** best, but **The Man Who Wasn’t There** has such a great _look_ that it scores high based on cinematography alone.
>
> \*\*
Agree with the above.
**Barton Fink** is the only CB movie I have not seen, and there isn’t really much discussion about this film in the thread.
Can anyone enlighten me?
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### Author:  [@Flashpaper\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flashpaper_Tiger)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2002, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-coen-brothers-movie/131538/30 "2002-10-10T11:10:05Z")
O Brother, Where Art Thou
Raising Arizona
The Big Lebowski
Fargo
The Man Who Wasn’t There
Hudsucker Proxy
Barton Fink
Blood Simple
Miller’ Crossing
Maybe I should watch Miller’s Crossing again. I saw it about 10 years ago and had a hard time staying interested in watching it.
---
### Author:  [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2002, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-coen-brothers-movie/131538/31 "2002-10-10T11:55:27Z")
I hope I don’t get flamed, but I vote for _Barton Fink_.
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### Author:  [@Jabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jabba)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2002, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-coen-brothers-movie/131538/32 "2002-10-10T12:03:31Z")
My choice for best would be between _Fargo_ and _Miller’s Crossing_, with _The Man Who Wasn’t There_ third.
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### Author:  [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2002, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-coen-brothers-movie/131538/33 "2002-10-10T12:56:14Z")
#1 Raising Arizona
Very close #2 Big Lebowski
Very close #3 Fargo
#4 Barton Fink
Distant #5 Hudsucker Proxy
#6 Blood Simple
Haven’t seen the others.
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### Author:  [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2002, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-coen-brothers-movie/131538/34 "2002-10-10T13:22:54Z")
I like _Hudsucker Proxy_.
Also _Barton Fink_ and _O Brother, Where Art Thou_, which I guess means I enjoy their period-piece movies.
The others, I either haven’t seen or don’t care much about.
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### Author:  [@eunoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eunoia)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2002, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-coen-brothers-movie/131538/35 "2002-10-10T13:46:05Z")
What astounding choices!
This is what makes the SDMB different, you see so many #1 votes for The Big Lebowski and Miller’s Crossing. Put them tied for first on my list, followed by:
Blood Simple
The Man Who Wasn’t There
Fargo
Barton Fink
The Hudsucker Proxy
Oh Brother Whre Art Thou?
Raising Arizona
List subject to radical change as viewer tastes mature. The Coens have never made a dud, rating them seems a bit like rating your children.
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### Author:  [@jimmmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmmy)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2002, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-coen-brothers-movie/131538/36 "2002-10-11T01:41:22Z")
Millers Crossing
O Brother, Where Art Thou
Raising Arizona
The Big Lebowski
Fargo
Hudsucker Proxy
Barton Fink
Blood Simple
I really liked them all, but have never seen “The Man W.W.T.” but I will & would like to thank you fellas for teaching me a valuable lesson.
Chet!
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### Author:  [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2002, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-coen-brothers-movie/131538/37 "2002-10-11T03:06:25Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Caprese \*
> \*\*Barton Fink is the only CB movie I have not seen, and there isn’t really much discussion about this film in the thread.
> Can anyone enlighten me? \*\*
It’s about a writer who is having an unusually hard time writing for “the common man”.
To clarify a statement I made above, the movie was written while the CBs were having a severe bout of writer’s block for _Miller’s Crossing_. Notice that Tom Reagen’s apartment is located in “Barton Arms”.
Stylistically, it is the polar opposite of _O Brother_. Bleak, spooky and very allegorical. Symbolism up the wazoo. It’s well acted but I think it’s the least accessible CB movie.
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### Author:  [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2002, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-coen-brothers-movie/131538/38 "2002-10-11T07:48:14Z")
It’s hard, but I’d have to say “The Man who wasn’t there”. Probably because I’m a big fan of Noir and TMWWT is a good example of it.
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### Author:  [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2002, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-coen-brothers-movie/131538/39 "2002-10-11T16:08:10Z")
Chalk me up as another _Big Lebowski_ fan. You can call me “Dude” or “Duder” or “Duderino” or “His Royal Dudeness” if you’re not into the whole brevity thing.
I also liked _Hudsucker_ and _O Brother_, but as for _Fargo_, I just didn’t get it.
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### Author:  [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2002, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-coen-brothers-movie/131538/40 "2002-10-11T20:06:15Z")
Alphagene
That was a great encapsulation of _Barton Fink_. Whenever I’m asked what it is about, I can only blink and stutter. I classify it as a dark dark dark dark comedy. I love it. It is one of my favorite movies period.
_Honey!? Wheah’s mah honey!_ 😃
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