# Your favorite Coen brothers movie
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-coen-brothers-movie/567646
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [January 14, 2011, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-coen-brothers-movie/567646 "2011-01-14T21:35:10Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2011, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-coen-brothers-movie/567646/1 "2011-01-14T21:35:10Z")
“Coen brothers movie” to be defined here as “feature-length movie directed by Joel and/or Ethan Coen”; shorts and films they just wrote or produced don’t count here.
I’m specifying “favorite” instead of “best,” because the former is hard enough, the latter downright impossible.
Poll in a minute.
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### Author:  [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2011, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-coen-brothers-movie/567646/2 "2011-01-14T21:49:04Z")
\*Big Lebowski \*… although _Raising Arizona_ is in a virtual tie with it as far as I’m concerned.
Not to mention that I think _The Ladykillers_ is brilliant and any other day I may have even picked that one.
I haven’t seen _True Grit_ yet.
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### Author:  [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2011, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-coen-brothers-movie/567646/3 "2011-01-14T21:53:31Z")
Dude
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### Author:  [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2011, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-coen-brothers-movie/567646/4 "2011-01-14T21:56:48Z")
I never saw _Intolerable Cruelty_, it just never interested me (and I had no idea it was one of theirs).
I never saw _The Ladykillers_ but I wanted to when it came out and it hasn’t come up on my Netflix yet.
Haven’t seen _A Simple Man_ or _True Grit_ yet either but I’ve heard nothing but good things.
I went with the one I’ve watched the most times, _The Big Lebowski_, although it was still a tough call between that, _O Brother_, and _Fargo_.
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### Author:  [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2011, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-coen-brothers-movie/567646/5 "2011-01-14T21:59:33Z")
For me it was between _Fargo_ and _O Brother Where Art Thou?_ Went with the latter. The music tipped the scales.
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### Author:  [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2011, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-coen-brothers-movie/567646/6 "2011-01-14T21:59:56Z")
\*O Brother. \*
Mostly because of the music. But it was a hard choice.
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### Author:  [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2011, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-coen-brothers-movie/567646/7 "2011-01-14T22:00:26Z")
_Raising Arizona_, without a doubt.
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### Author:  [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2011, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-coen-brothers-movie/567646/8 "2011-01-14T22:08:19Z")
Gotta choose between _O Brother, Where Art Thou?_ and _Raising Arizona_…
Damn, we’re in a tight spot!
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### Author:  [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2011, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-coen-brothers-movie/567646/9 "2011-01-14T22:20:03Z")
Gotta go with _Miller’s Crossing_. I loved many of the other choices, but for me, that movie is just…perfect.
“There’s nothing as ridiculous as a man chasing his own hat.”
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2011, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-coen-brothers-movie/567646/10 "2011-01-14T22:32:05Z")
Miller’s has so many unique characteristics. It’s the one I always want to see again. Maybe it’s just better acting (better being hard to qualify because the characters are all over the top). Maybe its the difficult to follow, but in the end, coherent plot. Maybe the noir characteristics. I just like it.
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### Author:  [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2011, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-coen-brothers-movie/567646/11 "2011-01-14T22:37:18Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#):
>
> Gotta go with _Miller’s Crossing_. I loved many of the other choices, but for me, that movie is just…perfect.
>
> “There’s nothing as ridiculous as a man chasing his own hat.”
I’m glad I’m not alone in this. I figured there would be a big outpouring for _The Big Lebowski_ and _Fargo_ (both great movies), and indifference toward this most underrated film in their CV. I’m also highly fond of _The Man Who Wasn’t There_ (Tony Shalhoub’s turn as the fast-talking defense lawyer was fantastic) and _Burn After Reading_, which is a great antidote to conspiracy/spy movies with preposterous conspiracies and has cemented George Clooney as the spiritual successor to Cary Grant in screwball comedy roles.
I like the way that Coen movies are instantly identifiable with noir-ish touches, and yet, they play across a wide variety of genres and themes. The only Coen films I have really been disappointed in are _Intolerable Cruelty_ (forgettable), _The Ladykillers_ (unnecessary remake that contributed nothing new), and _A Serious Man_ (I got the point, just didn’t find it all that funny). The recent _True Grit_ was a phenomenal improvement over the original film, and yet, identifiably a Coen effort that reminded me in style of _Miller’s Crossing_.
Stranger
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### Author:  [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2011, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-coen-brothers-movie/567646/12 "2011-01-14T22:50:42Z")
_No Country For Old Men_ is my favorite non-comedy, even above _True Grit_ (I consider _Fargo_ a comedy).
For comedies, as much as I think _Fargo_ is probably their best, my favorite is _O Brother, Where Art Thou?_.
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### Author:  [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2011, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-coen-brothers-movie/567646/13 "2011-01-14T22:55:03Z")
Fargo. Real good then.
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2011, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-coen-brothers-movie/567646/14 "2011-01-14T22:59:26Z")
I haven’t seen enough of them to choose. I do know that of the ones I have seen, I only (sort of) liked half of them, and the other half I severely disliked quite a lot. In my personal estimation they don’t make the kind of movies that speak to me on the level they’re intending.
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### Author:  [@Lethal\_Babydoll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lethal_Babydoll)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2011, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-coen-brothers-movie/567646/15 "2011-01-14T23:20:36Z")
A list of works any filmmaker would be proud of.
I chose _Miller’s Crossing_ over _Lebowski_ because of the way they were able to bring real emotion and pathos from characters in a movie that has such a fun, over-the-top, almost cartoonish vibe.
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### Author:  [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2011, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-coen-brothers-movie/567646/16 "2011-01-14T23:24:28Z")
I went for _Miller’s Crossing_. It creates this amazing, believeable 1920s world and peoples it with with an array of fascinating characters, including not one but three of the most memorably sinister villains in movie history, as embodied by John Turturro, John Polito and E. J. Freeman respectively. And of course, there’s the dialogue. Plus, it’s got weight. It’s about about friendship. It’s about character. It’s about–hell, I ain’t embarrassed to use the word–ethics.
After that, I’d say _The Big Lebowski_, _Fargo_, and _No Country for Old Men_, in that order.
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### Author:  [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2011, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-coen-brothers-movie/567646/17 "2011-01-14T23:33:13Z")
_Miller’s Crossing_ for me, as well. I remember seeing it in the theater and being blown away. Plus, it’s hard to top Albert Finney letting loose with a machine gun (to the tune of “Danny Boy”, no less).
_The Big Lebowski_ and _No Country For Old Men_ would be next in line.
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2011, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-coen-brothers-movie/567646/18 "2011-01-14T23:38:33Z")
I give **Fargo** a slight edge over **O Brother, Where Art Thou?**. I’m not a fan of **The Big Lebowski** , a long shaggy dog story with no real payoff.
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### Author:  [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2011, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-coen-brothers-movie/567646/19 "2011-01-14T23:39:22Z")
_Big Lebowski_ is my favorite movie, period. _Miller’s Crossing_ and _Barton Fink_ would come in 2 and 3. I need to see _A Serious Man_ again. It may take the 3 spot. **Stranger** , I don’t think it was supposed to be a comedy, though I’m not sure what it was, other than a skewed retelling of the Book of Job.
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### Author:  [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crown_Prince_of_Irony)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2011, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-coen-brothers-movie/567646/20 "2011-01-14T23:42:12Z")
I was torn between _Miller’s Crossing_ and _The Big Lebowski_. For about a half-second.
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