THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS – Rated R – 2 hrs. 12 mins.
DIRECTORS/WRITERS: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
STARRING: Liam Neeson, James Franco, Zoe Kazan, Brendan Gleeson, Tom Waits, Tyne Daly, Harry Melling, Tim Blake Nelson, Clancy Brown
From the Brothers who brought us such fab films as FARGO, THE BIG LEBOWSKI, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, BURN AFTER READING, INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS, and HAIL, CAESAR comes an anthology film featuring 6 different storylines, focused on the “Tales of the Old West” … when gun slingers were prevalent, and everyone who made it to adulthood, was looking out for numero uno…
I give THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS a rating of WAIT AND CATCH THIS FILM ON NETFLIX! As I grew up with old west reruns in prevalent rotation on our television, and having loved many of the Coen Brothers films before, THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS storyline and concept rather intrigued me. But, sadly, once these stories started hitting the screen, I was less than enthused. Maybe it was the fact that the stories themselves don’t really flow from one to the other. Maybe it was because each storyline felt rather short, and ill-conceived, or maybe it was just because I wasn’t enjoying any of the supposed comedic moments thrown in for good measure, or that the Coen Brothers attempt at drama this time around, just didn’t work for me either. Truth be told, I found myself hoping with each passing chapter/story of this less-than-enjoyable menagerie on screen, that eventually it was going to get better…it just had to. But, much to my dismay, it never did.
Even though THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS will be hitting select Theaters this weekend, I would suggest that you save your cold, hard cash, and catch this depressing little film on NETFLIX this weekend instead…
Kathy Kaiser
MATINEE CHAT with Kathy Kaiser 