The Coen Brothers are some of the most consistent filmmakers working today. This is undeniable if you look at the stats; of the 18 movies they’ve teamed up to write and direct, their lowest still holds a 6.2 on IMDB (2004’s Ladykillers). Only 3 are below a 7. There are conventions honoring The Big Lebowski, they’re Academy Award winners, and they’ve been working for over 30 years. My point is, to say there’s some pressure for The Ballad of Buster Scruggs to be good would be putting it mildly.
Luckily for us, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is true to Coen Brothers form. It’s the first anthology film they’ve done the entirety of, having contributed one segment to both Paris Je T’aime and Chacun son Cinema. This Netflix Original is 6 stories with a consistent theme of death in the Old West, populated by Coen Brothers collaborators old and new. That’s always been a talent of these writer/directors: to surround themselves with great and underutilized actors who give a great performance. This is certainly the case in Buster Scruggs, with roles played by blockbuster actors like James Franco and Liam Neeson, to character actor staples like Brandon Gleeson, Stephen Root, and Tim Blake Nelson as the titular outlaw. Particularly welcome are Zoe Kazan (from 2017’s wonderful The Big Sick) and Tom Waits (who has stolen every scene in every movie he’s been in).
And let me get this out of the way: I really enjoyed the movie. I love the Coen Brothers, and how can I complain about getting yet another great, unique movie from some of our best artists? But strap in, because I’m about to look this gift horse in the mouth.
My complaints are really branches of the same complaint tree- that the stories are TOO discreet. The Coen Brothers have always excelled at character work, drawing incredible performances from actors who portray well written roles. In Buster Scruggs, the same is true, but we don’t get enough time with any of them. For the majority of the stories, we moved on while I still wanted more. The only thing we get plenty of is death.
But while death in a constant companion in the old west, I would have preferred a more concrete way to tie the tales together. Even if it’s just the next story picking up where one left off instead of characters persisting, I would have been fine with that. As is, the simple page turning of the book between stories can’t help feeling a little flaccid.
My last issue with Buster Scruggs is its billing as a musical. It’s true that there is music in it, with Nelson, Gleeson and Jonjo O’Neill each putting their pipes on display. And the songs are enjoyable. However, there are not nearly enough songs to truly label this a musical, especially with the stories that contain music bookending the film. My disappointment only grew as the stores went by with musical numbers failing to manifest.
Despite my minor gripes about the handling of the anthology nature of the movie and the technical genre it falls into, each part of The Ballad of Buster Scruggs are varying shades of successful. It’s a fun movie with the Coen Brother’s fingerprints all over it. My guess is that you already know if you’ll like it based on your taste for their other movies, so giddyup and get to watching.
Overall rating: 8.5/10
Follow George on twitter @Georgehef.
Ballad of Buster Scruggs is now streaming on Netflix.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YES0lLXIIz4&t=51s
