Barton Fink
Movie, 1991, The '90s, Set in Hollywood, 1941
Barton Fink is #4 of 21 in release order and #4 of 21 in chronological order in the The Coen Brothers.
The story
A renowned New York playwright is enticed to California to write for the movies and discovers the hellish truth of Hollywood.
Barton Fink recap
Barton Fink (1991) follows a New York playwright hired to write a wrestling picture in Hollywood in 1941, who cannot get past the first page. Barton Fink (John Turturro) talks about writing for the common man and checks into the decaying Hotel Earle, where the walls peel in the heat. His neighbour, the friendly insurance salesman Charlie Meadows (John Goodman), offers him company. Studio boss Jack Lipnick (Michael Lerner) wants the script fast. Barton seeks help from the drunken novelist W.P. Mayhew (John Mahoney) and his secretary Audrey Taylor (Judy Davis), who admits she wrote much of Mayhew's work. Audrey spends the night with Barton, and he wakes to find her murdered beside him; Charlie gets rid of the body. Detectives later tell Barton that Charlie is a serial killer, Karl "Madman" Mundt. The Coens wrote it while stuck on Miller's Crossing. Their fourth feature, it won the Palme d'Or at Cannes.
Barton Fink ending explained
Barton Fink ends with Barton on a beach holding a box Charlie left him, unopened. Charlie returns as the hotel burns, kills the detectives with a shotgun and hints he has visited Barton's family, who no longer answer the phone. Barton finishes the script in one rush, but Lipnick, now in a colonel's uniform, rejects it and keeps him under contract while refusing to produce anything he writes. On the beach Barton meets a woman who looks like the one in the painting in his room, and she strikes the same pose.
Post-credits scenes
No. Barton Fink has no mid- or post-credits scene.
Where to watch Barton Fink
Barton Fink is streaming on Hoopla in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 7.6/10, Rotten Tomatoes 90%
Where it fits
- Release order: after Miller's Crossing, before The Hudsucker Proxy.
- Chronological order: after Miller's Crossing, before The Hudsucker Proxy.
Cast
- John Turturro as Barton Fink
- John Goodman as Charlie Meadows
- Judy Davis as Audrey Taylor
- Michael Lerner as Jack Lipnick
- John Mahoney as W.P. Mayhew
- Tony Shalhoub as Ben Geisler
- Jon Polito as Lou Breeze
- Steve Buscemi as Chet
- David Warrilow as Garland Stanford
- Richard Portnow as Detective Mastrionotti
- Christopher Murney as Detective Deutsch
- I.M. Hobson as Derek
Directed by Joel Coen, Ethan Coen.