Really dragged down by several of the segments.
[9.3/10] When I think about the things that connect the six different vignettes that make up The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, the Western-themed anthology film from the Coen Bros., I come up with the same two themes that are present throughout the duo’s filmography: uncertainty and death. That’s a little grim for what is an, at times, bleak, foreboding, heartbreaking film, but also one that is funny, whimsical, and even downright sweet at times. And yet whether they’re putting the wind at your back or having it blow you down, the sense of the unpredictability of life, and the way what comes after puts that into relief, is present through each of the disparate but connected segments.
The film features a seemingly unflappable gunfighter being suddenly and unexpectedly flapped (and then doing some flapping of his own). It has well-dug claims being subject to interlopers, a random series of events leading a man away from and then back into the noose, and an unanticipated romance being felled by the consequences of a yapping dog. And in each of these stories, death looms large, whether it be the brutal results of an act that no longer sells or the balance of choosing an easy death and the certainty of the afterlife over enduring the potential for a brutal one, or a portentous carriage ride that has more in common with passage down the River Styx than an amble through the countryside.
As befits a film from directors with a throughline entries as diverse as The Big Lebowski and No Country For Old Men, this movie revels in the unknowable nature of the working of the world, where the only certainty lies in the unavoidable journey to the next one.
But it’s also full of absolute aesthetic splendor and pitch perfect visuals as the Coens ply their audience with tales of the mortal and unexpected. Scruggs makes the most of its western setting, with gorgeous vistas, striking weather-worn towns and encampments, and image after image of bold figures flanked by the desert landscape. The lighting makes a big difference in the film, from the bright crisp tones of the outsized opening vignette of the segment that gives the film its title, to the darkening hues of the final scene which signals the sort of descent the characters are experiencing.
At the same time, the framing and editing are superb. Scruggs is a tactile, patient film, showing the audience the ominous advance of boots on bankhouse boards, or the steady rhythm of panning for gold in azure waters, or the advance of a fleet of indigenous fighters from far off in the distance. The Coens and their team know when to stop and focus on the individual details that give texture to this world, when to hold fast on the faces of the souls at their center and help the audience feel what they’re feeling, and when to pull back and give you the sense of worldly scope at play in each of these stories. As well-written as each vignette is, it’s the perfect visuals and staging that let’s each land with such force.
It also helps that despite the commonality of the western setting, Scruggs evokes different visual moods at the same time it’s delivering stories with different tones. There’s a tall tale-esque, exaggerated, even impressionistic vibe to the opening sequence, that looks back on the heightened reality of gunfighting in the public consciousness with bemused romanticism. But that’s contrasted by the “Meal Ticket” segment, which tastefully but brutally telegraphs a grim end for a disabled performer who’s no longer useful. (The segment also can’t help but intimate some subtext about the Coens’ own classically-informed creations falling in esteem and attention in favor of flashier, chicken-multiplying blockbusters at the box office.)
There’s a trademark sense of literal gallows humor and irony in the “Near Algodones” vignette, where a seemingly simple bank robbery turns from lethal reprimand to mortal reprieve and back again over and over. That sense of the strange, tragicomic unpredictability of life is clearest here, with glimpses of beauty and unknown forces pushing our outlaw protagonist like a leaf on the wind. It’s balanced, though, by a separate parable in “All Gold Canyon”, a tale of persistence and determination and good and bad fortune, but also one of the indifference of bucolic nature to our quests and impediments. While the workings of the world push the outlaw in the former around, the world is at bay, waiting to return to normal, after the old prospector’s steady, and unexpectedly bloody perturbation of land to find his fortune.
The final segment, “The Mortal Remains”, is one long conversation about the nature of men and of relations between them, that ends when the tenor of their destination becomes clear and eclipses such worldly concerns. It’s one of the most elliptical pieces in the film, as filled with writerly dialogue as it is with symbols and portents. But it also offers the movie’s sharpest take on death, the way it sneaks up unawares and intrudes on the more prosaic concerns that consume our lives.
Still, I don’t think it’s the key to Scruggs and its tales of wonder and woe. That comes in “The Gal Who Got Rattled,” the penultimate vignette, the one that feels the most like a complete story, and for my money, the best of the six. It features the Coens’ sweetest romantic relationship since Fargo, their exploration of the expectations placed on and the options available to women in this time and place, and the apotheosis of the way that the unexpected can bring great joy to our lives when we embrace its uncertainty, but also how the random barking of a dog that narrowly escaped its own death can instead bring it to those on the cusp of settling into that joy. It is the most heartening and eventually harrowing segment in the film, one filled with richly drawn characters, stunning visuals, and the clearest encapsulation of the movie’s ideas in the conversations between the titular “gal” and her earnest suitor.
Those ideas boil down to that “embrace the mystery” lesson that the Coens have been toying with for decades, most notably in A Serious Man, and the prospect of death, whether it’s of peace, of shock, or of ominous portents, that lurks in the background. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs gives us all sides of these notions, and a buffet of different tones and tales to put them into relief. It is an alternatively hilarious, dispiriting, and inspiring film that collects the best and various modes of the Coens, and fits them into one varied but complete package, representing their most venerable motifs with charm and poignance.
I'm not sure if this would of been better as a tv show or movie but either way it's great. It starts strong with Tim Blake Nelson's singing Buster Scruggs and keeps going. I love the Coen's humor and dialogue. Some of the stories are a little too long but they are all so good. It's a shame that it was given a full theatrical release.
This movie starts out hilarious and goes quickly downhill. there are 6 stories completely unconnected, each one getting longer and mind-numbingly more boring and pointless as the movie progresses. At 2 hours and 15 minutes, it's a long movie, but I'm going to save almost 2 hours of your life that you can do other things like wash the dishes, pain, talk to the spouse etc... watch the first 2 stories and switch it off.
The first story is fantastic - Tim Blake Nelson is brilliant and the story is very funny 9/10. Story 2 with James Franco is less funny, but still worth watching 6.5/10. The rest of the move 0/10.
It's like someone forgot the essence of what a movie story is about.
Instead of a story, we get 4 or 5 short and separated ones, I can't even remember after watching the movie... yet none of the stories is compelling enough because they fall very short with some sort of moral lesson. For all intents and purposes, this cannot be classified as a movie, at most this is the conjunction of several canceled series' pilots. It's not bad, but it's not good if story is important to you. Final words; not memorable at all.
A fascinating western anthalogy. Each story was unique, had different tones and themes, creating a thoroughly entertaining experience. The cinematography and performances by the cast really helped to capture the essence of the old west.
last story in the carriage had some good ass lightning / color correction, loved it
The rare anthology that isn't of the Horror genre. Well, it may not be Horror, but it certainly is dark. But then, almost everything about the Old West seems a horrific way to live compared to the conveniences and luxuries most of us have today. I kept thinking about how much time a person that lived back then would have had to consider their own life and not be distracted by things like movies, social media, sports, showers , etc. I don't know if the way characters spoke was accurate, but the dialog hinted at an antiquated but eloquent dialect. Then again, with the Coen Brothers, the dialog of the characters flows almost unnaturally. Certainly, the characters in these stories aren't as well educated as we are today, so I'm guessing it's writers being clever.
I'm not a fan of Westerns, but I am an anthology and short story nut. This was a film I really enjoyed. As is the case in almost all anthologies, there's a twist, and here, the turns are severe. I felt guilty about how much I actually enjoyed them because most are very cruel to undeserving characters. A number of the stories end abruptly and are going to be jarring to many viewers.
This is beautiful to look at. The wide open spaces of the West stretch out and dwarf the little people of the prairies. I almost always like the Coens, and for them to be spinning a collection of tales like this is nearly gold to me. So about those six stories, here's how I'd rate them in my order of enjoyment:
The Gal Who Got Rattled
All Golds Canyon
Near Aldgones
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Meal Ticket
The Mortal Remains
The first few tales were short, sweet and funny. Mid way through it becomes a different genre of film, and darker. But that’s okay, because the cast are always great and the twists keep you guessing.
Hold off for awhile and finally watching it was a good choice because it was great and loved all the different stories and some bought comedy, some serious and others surprising with a shocking ending that was dark and loved all the different cast but it did drag a little and the last story I couldn’t really make sense of it but still enjoyed it.
A little dark, a little violent, but very clever and well made. So many of the characters are interesting, detailed, fun to watch and fun to listen to. Even the brief ones. And then the stories are smart and not cliched, and take place in what feels like the genuine old west. All of this combined together makes for a very enjoyable movie. Already want to watch it again.
Watch the first two stories and skip the others!
One of the beautiful aspects of a so-called Western is that a story can be stripped down to its essence without a lot of the interference that might come with other backdrops. For example, the main story line from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly was actually borrowed from a ninja movie. In this film the Coen brothers have taken this freedom and extended it by making a series of shorts rather than a long-form film. The shorts allow the viewer to get right to the heart of the conflict.
At different points in the film I thought that the overall piece was unlike anything that they've ever done but when it was said and done it was 100% Coens. I thoroughly enjoyed the stories and the way they were told.
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There was some cool scenes, but overall, I did not enjoy this movie.
Not every story sticks - the shorter tales fared better than the extended ones - but still an enjoyable, typically Coenesque view of the Old West.
I really liked this movie.... I've always liked westerns anyway but this was quite refreshing to watch....
First story very light hearted and amusing, some of the others getting a bit darker leaving a bit to the imagination, I'll not spoil it for anybody but definately worth a watch if you like westerns at all.
Well filmed too with great apsects and atmosphere.
This movie is absolutely different than many films. People say this movie is kinda slow. What do you expect during the early industrial civilization? Absolutely good movie. Must watch.
and if'n I dont
- Buster Scruggs
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
This took me by surprise. The jovial singing tunes along with casual homicide with no one batting an eye was something I could have never imagined. In the few minutes that it lasts, it does have a fair share of twists and turns and brilliant camera work. That bar scene I still fondly remember after seeing other stories.
Near Algodones
The few minutes that James Franco's character experiences, most don't experience in a lifetime. He tries to rob a bank but is punished for an entirely different reason. The last expression on his face of wistful nonchalance is pure gold. By the second story you know they are all about the wild west and build anticipation.
Meal Ticket
It's just heart-wrenching what is happening to good art and artists. Harry Melling's oratory skills are as brilliant as the ill his fate is. This segment has Liam Neeson, and while he leaves a lasting impression with his brooding charisma and tall frame, Harry's artist remained strong in my mind even after all the stories were told.
All gold ticket
This was a good one and fits well in the overall collection, but the weakest of them according to me.
The Gal Who Got Rattled
Zoe Kazan's Alice was beautiful. Vulnerable yet confident. Standing her ground. It was a longer segment, probably to slowly let her character develop. The first scene of the suppertime discussions portrays her as a very timid person, not going beyond what her brother commands. They are migrating from one part of the country to the other and this journey brings something unexpected. Easily one of the best stories of the lot.
The Mortal Remains
Pretty much rides on the acting and delivery prowess of the cast, this is interesting but isn't the best.
Overall, all the tales keep a solid connection with the wild west. For someone not from the USA, and not well-versed in Western movies, this acted as a gateway movie. From bank heists to Comanche raids, the movie brings about many stereotypical elements of the era. It also does this beautifully on screen. Instead of the rustic muddy air of usual Westerns, this is bright and high-definition. I like Coen Brother's camerawork, it's worth watching for that alone. When it is Coen brothers, it is already a class apart, but among other Coen brothers' works, this wouldn't rank too high.
Very entertaining, I got major Tarantino vibes from the dialogue, acting styles and western setting.
The cinematography is phenomenal, it definitely should’ve been recognized for that by the Academy.
The problem is that it’s hard to develop interesting characters over segments that only last about 20 minutes, I feel like at that point you’re better off making a short series. The way everything clicks together into a narrative is a bit thin, it feels more like a collection of loose ideas. This is even more amplified by the tonal inconsistency and unequal pacing between the segments, it doesn’t flow together like a singular experience.
Yet, despite those obvious structural issues, this is an interesting ride that’s never dull.
6.5/10
Movie made up of six vignettes of differing lengths and various levels of enjoyment. Overall beautiful cinematography so even if the vignettes do not talk to you it is worth checking out for the enjoyment of vistas. Heavy heavy Southern accents thruout so for those not natively speaking English it can be a struggle without subtitles. My ranking of the vignettes from very enjoyable to super annoying is the following:
I'm a big Coen brothers fan and I love a good Western, but this left me cold. Didn't get this one at all.
Well, that was a surprise
Good that it lead off with Buster Scruggs (and kind of a shame there wasn't an encore performance)
But an interesting mix of Western themed vignettes, some good, some bad, none of them really happy endings, but overall quite enjoyable
More than an anthology, an album of inconsequential vignettes soaked in black humor. Rather than telling a story, the six tales are meant to portray an Old West that feels both realistically cruel and cinematically whimsical. Unfortunately, great cinematography and solid performances aside, the film has not much to offer. There are many memorable scenes indeed, but the overall effect is a bit dull.
Definitely a Coen Brothers thing. A bunch of dark comedy "shorts" with a vague sense of the supernatural all ending unexpectedly and randomly without any firm answers or conclusions. Pretty original and worth a watch if you're already a fan of the Coen brothers
I love the fittingly dramatic irony and dark metaphors these Twilight Zone-esque anthology stories present. Joel and Ethan Coen string the audience along for the first short by giving the impression the average Netflix viewer is in for a more rompous and humorous affair, but after a downhearted ending to the first story, the audience is strung along for more poignant and serious matters. The themes of each of these stories are incredibly powerful, and ones that transcend a specific trend, but go on for generations. The seemingly light-hearted and beautiful imagery of this movie is just facade. The dark undertones will resonate with a lot of people because of how it connects to people on a deeper level. The short involving the armless, legless man being paraded around by a con artist, using him for mere coins to trick the poor stage performer, only to scam him right to his face, oddly, had me sitting in shock, considering how obvious the story is. The way it's executed carefully: slowly, not much music, just the motions happening and characters going. As the number of attendees dwindles, the owner begins to wonder why the money isn't rolling in anymore. He finds a crowd of people in this town, instead of attending his performed tale of sad and woe, are gathered around a chicken hitting metal plates. The owner sees this as the opportunity to make more money, so he buys the chicken from that man using cash clearly gotten somewhere other than his own performer, then cowardly dumps the poor boy into a river, discarded for the next attraction. And the message of that short I think gets to me because of how it shows audiences in general. People would rather watch a chicken do bells and whistles than see a man recite Shakespeare. The Coen's play with the audiences expectations but thankfully satisfy them and upset them in meaningful ways. This is my favorite film from the brothers outside No Country For Old Men.
Started out okay, but quickly became boring AF and less interesting with each story.
The old Wild West, six stories of violence, gun-slinging, double-dealing, horror with some singing, dancing and mystery mixed in Cohen style. What more can you say, what more could you want?
What a magnificent love letter to the western, the long worn and dusty genre of which True Grit is the Cohen’s impressive entry. In fact the fingerprints of True Grit can found all over the six stories contained within The Ballad of Buster Scruggs with a similar feel, characters and name-places particularly in The Gal Who Got Rattled and Meal Ticket which I can believe had Rooster Cogburn riding somewhere in the distance in a different story.
With the first comedic style story firing off with an oddly distinctive and cinematic look, albeit from different film eras, you wonder where the brothers are going and what they are trying to say to us. With Tim Blake Nelson having a blast as Buster Scruggs the viewer is hurled headfirst into a surreal world of grimy murderers with black and white hat singing goodies and baddies, or are they all baddies? So, on we go.
I can’t help feeling the main character of the whole film, unseen, uncredited but always there and always having a big influence in each story, is death. The very part of life we cannot avoid, that’s always there, and that America was built on. Senseless, murderous, sadly for profit, uncaring and unbiased death. Whether it is a cameo in Tom Waits tale as he ploddingly works away to find his old nemesis Mr Pocket, a superb and beautifully filmed section or the heartless and cruel protagonist in Zoe Kazan and Bill Heck’s sensitively realised Oregon Trail story were the taciturn Mr. Arthur, a spot-on performance by Grainger Hines, indirectly gives the Reaper a helping hand.
Each story, plays with tropes whilst still staying true to western formula, most horrifying in The Meal Ticket and more whimsically in Near Algodone and All Gold Canyon with every section a simple tale that is perfectly balanced, until we get to the more seemingly studio-set and infernal seeming The Mortal Remains that is the perfect bookend to the stories. Who is that coach driver? Have a guess.
All the actors in this joyous and memorable film, be they well-known faces, or maybe lesser known to some of us, are on top of their game, pitching the performance for the style of story perfectly and making the viewing time of over two hours fly by.
The treatment of native Americans seems harsh as they are the usual stereotypical ‘savages’ that are cruel and murderous but if staying true to the trope, the wild west stories of the past then that’s how they were seen, perhaps a balancing tale telling one of their stories would have balanced this but overall they were peripheral and only shown in the manner they were to change the circumstances for two sets of characters.
There seems to be no doubt for me that the modern masters of the oater film are the Cohens who just in this six-story special can make grim, horrific, realistic and stylist western films at the drop of a hat. It is a new genre for me mickey-taking nostalgia.
A big spotlessly clean white hat, or a black hat or raccoon hat, does not matter, they can do it.
I hope they do it some more.
Really good screenplay by the coen brothers manages to keep you entertained by a combination of different tones of stories with typically a familar face in there.
The problem with vignettes is you ultimately want more of the ones you like, and less of the ones you don't.... the format works pretty well for this mashup of comedy/western/musical tho, with an ensemble cast with so many familiar faces, esp for fans of the Coens' other films.
I really enjoyed this movie, the stories were quick and in a great order- the Coen brothers did it right. Did not disappoint.
A very odd collection of shorts with a very odd cast. Typical of a Coen brothers film. The acting is wonderful as are the settings and the colors. The stories range from mediocre to great. There isn’t really anything to love though. Nothing made me think I need to run out and tell everyone about this, but it wasn’t a bad way to spend a slow evening. Not even in the top 3 CB movies for rankings sake.
if glorious cinematography could kill, consider me dead
set of short stories of very unequal result. it's not worth the effort
Definitely unexpected but a fun movie to watch, minus the dismal parts. Really well done.
Huge Coen bros fan here. This just didn't hit me in the right spots. Everything was either boring or a bummer. There were a few parts I enjoyed but overall I just wanted it to be over.
Some were nice, some I just didn't get. Nearly all relied on a twist ending which became predictable.
Instant classic.
Each and every story was handled with care, love and wit. I really loved Liam Neeson's and Tom Waits' arc and the last chapter blew my mind.
Hot take, and I warn you, you're not going to like it.
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is the film I wanted True Grit to be.
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There's some typical Coen brothers wry comedy and some good dialogue. Certain parts of the film look very nice, especially the Tom Waits prospector segment which was a highlight. But the latter part of the film drags a bit and is not as engaging as the first 2 or 3 segments. There is also, unusually, some poor lip dubbing unless my eyes were deceiving me.
Shout by Absolut1onBlockedParent2019-01-26T22:12:26Z
I was quite enjoying the film in the beginning, the Buster Scruggs story was funny and entertaining while being violent enough to feel more serious.
Then, as I was getting into it he dies. Now we have more mini stories, each me a and less entertaining.
I may have been going in blind as I wasn't aware it would be like this, but it's a shame as I could have watched Buster for hours!