Nerd 5 Presents: The 6 Most Entertaining Characters for the 16th Coen Brothers Film

         

  Opening limited this week into theaters is the newest film from Joel and Ethan Coen, The Coen Brothers. Inside Llewyn Davis is the 16^th feature film released by the Coen Brothers and it is entering theaters with solid buzz, abundant amounts of awards talk, and a string of festival successes in its wake.  To say that all 15 of the Coen Brothers previous films are amazing would be a lie; to say that 13 of the 15 are amazing is nothing shy of a true fact. Any rankings of the Coen Brothers films are mostly based upon personal taste as most of the films in their cannon are very high quality. Jeff and I always speak about an artist or filmmaker having a quality threshold, meaning that no matter how bad something is from the artist it will never be below high quality. In other words, even the worst Coen Brother’s film is better than most Hollywood films. Here’s a quick look at my ranking of the Coen’s filmography.

         Masterpieces

1.      O Brother, Where Art Thou?

2.      Barton Fink

3.      No Country for Old Men

4.      Fargo

         Supremely Entertaining

5.      Raising Arizona

6.      The Hudsucker Proxy

7.      True Grit

8.      Miller’s Crossing

9.      Burn After Reading

         Better than Most

10.  The Big Lebowski

11.  A Serious Man

12.  The Man Who Wasn’t There

13.  Blood Simple

         The Bottom of the Barrel

14.  The Lady killers

15.  Intolerable Cruelty

      The Coen’s are known for stunning visual, great stories, quick and witty dialogue, brilliantly shot films, outstanding soundtracks, and memorable characters Their films are full of characters who are witty, fast talking (when needed), quirky, intelligently designed, full-fledged character with flaws to overcome, and are the heart and soul of The Coen’s films. You can tell a Coen Brother’s film from the moment it comes up on screen and a lot of that is the characters they put on screen. There are enough wonderful characters for several lists, and, honestly this could be the first of many lists, I’ll see you all soon for the next 7 characters of the 17^th Coen Brother’s film, but before we get to that let’s at the 6 most entertaining characters in honor of the release of Inside Llewyn Davis the 16^th Coen Brothers film.

6. Delmar O’Donnell – Tim Blake Nelson – O Brother Where, Art Thou (2000) – Delmar O’Donnell is a complex simpleton and a joy to watch. Tim Blake Nelson brings this characters to life with such heart, kindness, and joy that it’s hard to believe that he was ever in prison. One of the most entertaining things about escaped convict Delmar is his never ending loyalty for Pete (John Turtturo) and Everett (George Clooney) and his willingness to follow them blindly. There are many great scenes with Delmar from the “We thought you was a toad” scene in the movie theater, to his great musical performance of “In the Jailhouse Now” (yes that’s Nelson singing, he won a Grammy Award for it), but in the clip below you really get a glimpse into what makes Delmar great and Nelson’s performance amazing.  

5. H.I. McDunnough – Nicolas Cage – Raising Arizona (1987) – Raising Arizona is the second film the Coen Brothers made, and it stands as one of their best. Arizona is carried by H.I. McDunnough and Nicolas Cage’s stunning performance. Cage has fallen greatly in recently years but at one point he was a great, dare I say well-respected, actor and this is possibly his greatest role. H.I. and his wife Edwina “Ed” McDunnough (Holly Hunter) have one simple goal; get a baby, by any means necessary—including helping themselves to one of four babies born to the Arizona family. With relentless honestly and a never ending drive to make Ed happy, H.I. wins his way on the this list, and is certainly one of the most memorable Coen Brother’s creations. The clip that follows is a fantastic representation of ex-con H.I. and what happens when baby Arizona needs dippers.  

H.I. Goes Shopping 

4. Bernie Bernbaum – John Turtturo – Miller’s Crossing (1990) – The Coen Brother’s films are littered with amazing, outstand, and wonderful performances by Turtturo but in Miller’s Crossing is where he proves why he’s one of the best actors ever. Bernie is one of the most layered and compelling lowlifes in all of film history and the only thing that worse than Bernbaum begging for his life halfway through the film is what happens after that scene. In lessor hands this character could have come and gone, and just been another gangster in another gangster film but Turtturo coupled with the visual style and masterful storytelling of Joel and Ethan Coen prevent that from happening. Sadly the internet is lacking of clips of Bernie begging for his life, but the clip that follows is Turtturo speaking of that scene and the film in general with clips from Miller’s Crossing.

3. Marge Gunderson – Frances McDormand – Fargo (1996) – The Coen’s films are more often than not a boys club, with the almost constant exception Frances McDormand, a very talented actress who populates plenty of Coen films. But her best work comes from her Academy Award nominated role of Marge Gunderson in Fargo. Marge is a pregnant police officer who’s on a murder case in the small town of Brainerd, Minnesota. She’s determined, dedicated, and kind (don’t ya know). Marge is a representation of what good people doing good things and how hard it is to get them done. The following clip is one of the many great scenes of McDormand as Gunderson; here she is finding a body that puts her story in motion.

2. Charlie Meadows – John Goodman – Barton Fink (1991) – Barton Fink is a criminally under viewed amazing film. It’s full of life, vibrancy, hope, and joy all at the backdrop of hell, falsehood, disaster, and failure, there’s a lot going on here. Visually capturing classic Hollywood esthetic and using it to contrast the underside of the film industry and of Barton himself. John Turttruo plays Barton Fink and is masterful in the part but is easily out shined by John Goodman playing fellow resident of the Hotel Earle Charlie Meadows. Goodman is genius piece of casting by the Coen’s, using his good natured and friendly outward persona to contrast the characters dark side, his what-the-hell-did-I-just-see side, his who-is-he-really side that perfectly encapsulates the film as a whole and it’s insanely captivating to watch. What follows is a great clip of Goodman as Meadows apologizing to his neighbor Barton.

Charlie Apologizes to Barton

1. Anton Chigurh – Javier Bardem – No Country for Old Men (2007) – A character so vile, so disgusting, so revolting you can’t help but watch him. A cold calculating murderer played to Academy Award winning perfection by Javier Bardem. One of the most endlessly fascinating things about Anton Chigurh is you never know what he’s going to do next. An outstanding performance delivered by Bardem because of its layers, his understanding of the character, and his belief that Chigurh is not a bad guy, he plays Chigurh as if he totally in the right and everything he does is justified and deserved. This captivating and amazing performance is the highlight of this Best Picture winning film. The clip below is Chigurh at his absolute most unpredictable.