Rating: R
Genre:
Comedy Drama
Theatrical Release: 08/21/1991(USA)
Release Date: 05/20/2003
SubTitles: English/Espanol
Dubbed: English/Espanol/French
Sound: DD1/DD2
Run Time: 115 Minutes
Flags: Violence, Adult Situations, Not For Children, Profanity
Distributor/Studio: 20th Century Fox
The title character, played by
John Turturro, is a Broadway playwright, based on
Clifford Odets, lured to Hollywood with the promise of untold riches by a boorish studio chieftain (played by
Michael Lerner as a combination of
Louis B. Mayer and
Harry Cohn). Despising the film capital and everything it stands for,
Barton Fink comes down with an acute case of writer's block. He is looked after by a secretary (
Judy Davis) who has been acting as a ghost writer for an alcoholic screenwriter (
John Mahoney, playing a character based on
William Faulkner). Also keeping tabs on
Fink is a garrulous traveling salesman (
John Goodman), the most likeable, stable character in the picture. And then comes the plot twist to end all plot twists, plunging
Barton Fink into a surreal nightmare that would make Hieronymus Bosch look like a house painter. Once more,
Ethan and
Joel Coen serve up a smorgasbord of quirkiness and kinkiness, where nothing is what it seems and nothing turns out as planned.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide