When a movie is underrated, it’s usually because it didn’t do well at the box office or because it got bad reviews. But when it comes to the work of Joel and Ethan Coen, some of their projects are the opposite. For example, No Country for Old Men (2007) and Fargo (1996) hit home in both of the ways mentioned above. Even though critics didn’t like The Big Lebowski that much when it came out in 1998, the movie has become an icon in its own right.
But both critical and (especially) commercial success is usually hit or miss for the brothers. Sure, there are some things that don’t fit that rule. But most of the time, it could be said that the Coen Brothers are better known than most of their movies. Even if a project was technically successful when it came out, it can easily lose popularity over time. So, these are the ten movies by Joel and Ethan Coen that don’t get enough attention.
A Serious Man
Even though A Serious Man (2009) was nominated for Best Picture (for the Coens) and Best Actor (for Stuhlberg) at the Academy Awards, it doesn’t seem to be thought of as one of Joel and Ethan’s best works anymore. It’s definitely up there, as its review scores should show. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an 89% approval rating, and well-known film critic Roger Ebert gave it a perfect score.
It even did well in theaters, but it seems like people are forgetting about it more and more as time goes on. Stuhlberg plays Larry Gopnik, a physics professor, and the story is about how his personal life goes out of control. It’s a story that’s always tinged with sadness, but it’s those sad parts that help the actors give especially moving performances. It’s one of the Coen brothers’ best, if not their most underrated film.
Burn After Reading
With a cast like George Clooney, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, and Brad Pitt, it’s not surprising that Burn After Reading (2008) caused a stir at the box office around the world. The Coen brothers had worked with Clooney and McDormand before, and McDormand is Joel’s wife. Adding Malkovich, Swinton, and Pitt was like putting icing on an already star-studded cake.
The story is mostly about a CIA analyst who quits his job to write his autobiography. But Linda Litzky (McDormand) and Chad Feldheimer (Pitt), two shallow employees at a local gym, mistake his work for government documents and see it as a way to make money. The results are hilarious disasters that really show how silly the movie is.
Barton Fink
One of the most impressive things about the Coens’ way of making movies is that they can use the same group of talented actors over and over again and always get career-defining performances from them. Here in Barton Fink (1991), they worked with some people who would later become famous, like John Turturro, who played the title role. Fink is a Hollywood screenwriter, and the main theme of the movie is how hard his job is on his mind.
But Barton Fink also had John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, and, of course, Frances McDormand, who all worked with the Coens. Even though the movie had famous actors and good reviews from critics, it didn’t do well at the box office. It cost $9 million to make but only made $5 million, so people didn’t really care about this one.
Inside Llewyn Davis
Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), about a struggling folk musician in New York City in the 1960s, didn’t win any awards, even though it was one of the best things the Coen brothers ever made. Even though it had a great cast, including Oscar Isaac (who played the title role), Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, and Justin Timberlake, it didn’t do much at the box office.
Even with all of that, it has a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. In other words, critics loved it, and for good reason. Modern audiences often think of this movie as the one that put Oscar Isaac on the map, but it is also the only one of the Coens’ many movies that really shows how people are. It’s sad and funny at the same time, and it keeps you interested the whole time. Not only that, but its sweet, folk-based soundtrack is absolutely to die for, just like O Brother, Where Art Thou? You’ll be hooked from the beginning.
Intolerable Cruelty
It starred George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones. It was the second time Clooney worked with the Coen brothers, after O Brother, Where Art Thou? in 2000 and before Burn After Reading in 2008 and Hail, Caesar! in 2011. Even though Clooney’s performance in Intolerable Cruelty (2003) doesn’t stand out, he and Zeta-Jones get along quickly and well.
And yes, the movie did well at the box office as a whole, in part because the above-mentioned stars brought in a wider audience than usual for a Coen Brothers movie. However, critics didn’t exactly go crazy over it when it came out. And most of the time, it’s been forgotten about in the siblings’ filmography. That should be fixed right away.
Miller’s Crossing
Even though most critics and diehard movie fans liked this early Coens movie and still do, it didn’t get much attention from the general public. The Coen brothers usually make crime movies, and Miller’s Crossing (1990) is their only film in the most well-known subgenre of crime movies: the gangster movie.
In this case, it’s about two rival gangs, and the main character, played by Gabriel Byrne, is on both sides of the fight. It also has all of the Coen brothers’ trademarks. A group of oddball characters, interesting cinematography, and witty dialogue — the whole nine yards and then some. This book is a must-read for any fan of the Coen Brothers.
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Even though critics didn’t think it was overrated, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018) doesn’t have the name recognition of other westerns by the Coen brothers like No Country for Old Men (2007) and True Grit (1994). It did come out only on Netflix, though, which got a lot of people to watch who might not have if it had come out in theaters.
It is told in six parts, kind of like a book of short stories. To be honest, each part has a different character, tone, and quality. But for the most part, everything works because the script is great and the actors are perfect for the roles. Its numbers don’t necessarily show it, but it’s clear that this will be remembered as one of the Coen brothers’ sleeper hits.
The Big Lebowski
All cult classics are underrated in some way, and The Big Lebowski (1998) was definitely underrated when it first came out. It made $46 million on a budget of $15 million, which is pretty good for a movie about a group of bowling buddies who get involved in a crime caper.
But Rotten Tomatoes only gives it a 79% approval rating, which was even lower when it first came out. In other words, some critics, like Roger Ebert, have seen the movie again and given it a better review. Ebert, for example, changed his rating of Jeff Lebowski from three stars to four stars in 2010. Just because of that, and how people felt about it when it first came out, it should be on this list.
The Hudsucker Proxy
The Hudsucker Proxy (1995), which only has a 60% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, is by far one of the most underrated Coen Brothers movies, even though it has the same kind of quirky, interesting characters that have come to define their work. Tim Robbins plays Norville Barns, a recent business school graduate who becomes the head of a manufacturing company. Jennifer Jason Leigh and Paul Newman also have roles in the movie.
Even though the story isn’t anything to write home about, critics liked many things about the movie behind the scenes, like the production design and camerawork. Even at its worst, the movie has a clear style that is shown off by its crazy cast of characters in a great and familiar way.
The Man Who Wasn’t There
The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001), in which Billy Bob Thornton plays a barber in a small Californian town, stands out in the Coens’ filmography for a number of reasons. First of all, it was shot in color and then completely changed to black-and-white to match its American neo-noir influences from the 1940s and 1950s.
Roger Deakins’ cinematography was praised by critics, award groups, and other groups. But it only made about $19 million on a budget of $20 million, and people don’t remember it as much as other Coen Brothers movies from that time. In the end, it was without a doubt one of their most underrated projects.
