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Since their 1984 neo-noir debut Blood Simple, brother directors Joel and Ethan Coen have danced amok across American cinema with mordant tales of wayward souls and their crimes and misdemeanors. Among their achievements include making a generation-defining comedy (The Big Lebowski), revitalizing the Western (True Grit), and winning Best Picture (No Country For Old Men). They even brought back bluegrass, achieved through cultural Trojan horse O Brother, Where Are Thou?. Recently, Joel Coen struck out on his own with The Tragedy of Macbeth, followed by this week's Drive-Away Dolls. They're all included in this guide to the Coen brothers' movies ranked by Tomatometer!
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10. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
Tomatometer: 89%
Audience Score: 78%
Synopsis: An anthology of six short films that take place in 19th-century post-Civil War era during the settling of the Old West.
Critics Consensus: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs avoids anthology pitfalls with a consistent collection tied together by the Coen brothers' signature blend of dark drama and black humor.
Starring: Tim Blake Nelson, Willie Watson, David Krumholtz, James Franco
Directed By: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
9. Barton Fink (1991)
Tomatometer: 89%
Audience Score: 89%
Synopsis: Set in 1941, an intellectual New York playwright Barton Fink (John Turturro) accepts an offer to write movie scripts in L.A. He finds himself with writer's block when required to do a B-movie script. His neighbor tries to help, but he continues to struggle as a bizarre sequence of events distracts him.
Critics Consensus: Twisty and unsettling, the Coen brothers' satirical tale of a 1940s playwright struggling with writer's block is packed with their trademark sense of humor and terrific performances from its cast.
Starring: John Turturro, John Goodman, Judy Davis, Michael Lerner
Directed By: Joel Coen
8. Raising Arizona (1987)
Tomatometer: 91%
Audience Score: 85%
Synopsis: An ex-con and an ex-cop meet, marry and long for a child of their own. When it is discovered that Hi is unable to have children they decide to snatch a baby. They try to keep their crime a secret, while friends, co-workers and a bounty hunter look to use the child for their own purposes.
Critics Consensus: A terrifically original, eccentric screwball comedy, Raising Arizona may not be the Coens' most disciplined movie, but it's one of their most purely entertaining.
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter, Trey Wilson, John Goodman
Directed By: Joel Coen
7. Miller's Crossing (1990)
Tomatometer: 93%
Audience Score: 90%
Synopsis: When the Italian Mafia threatens to kill a crooked bookie (John Turturro), Irish mob boss Leo O'Bannon (Albert Finney) refuses to allow it, chiefly because he's dating the bookie's sister, crafty gun moll Verna Bernbaum (Marcia Gay Harden). Leo's right-hand man, Tom Reagan (Gabriel Byrne), is also seeing Verna on the sly, and when he's found out is obliged to switch sides, going to work for the Italian mob amidst a dramatically escalating gang war over liquor distribution.
Critics Consensus: Though possibly more notable for its distinctive style than an airtight story, this Coen brothers take on the classic gangster flick features sharp dialogue, impressive cinematography, and a typically quirky cast of characters.
Starring: Gabriel Byrne, Albert Finney, Marcia Gay Harden, Jon Polito
Directed By: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
6. Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
Tomatometer: 92%
Audience Score: 74%
Synopsis: In 1961 New York City, folk singer Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) is at a crossroads. Guitar in hand, he struggles against seemingly insurmountable obstacles to make a name for himself in the music world, but so far, success remains elusive. Relying on the kindness of both friends and strangers, Llewyn embarks on an odyssey that takes him from the streets of Greenwich Village to a Chicago club, where awaits a music mogul who could give him the big break that he desperately needs.
Critics Consensus: Smart, funny and profoundly melancholy, Inside Llewyn Davis finds the Coen brothers in fine form.
Starring: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, Garrett Hedlund
Directed By: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
5. The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021)
Tomatometer: 92%
Audience Score: 74%
Synopsis: Joel Coen's bold and fierce adaptation of "Macbeth," a tale of murder, madness, ambition, and wrathful cunning.
Critics Consensus: Led by a stellar Denzel Washington, The Tragedy of Macbeth strips the classic story down to its visual and narrative essentials.
Starring: Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Bertie Carvel, Alex Hassell
Directed By: Joel Coen
4. No Country for Old Men (2007)
Tomatometer: 93%
Audience Score: 86%
Audience Score: 86%
Synopsis: While out hunting, Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) finds the grisly aftermath of a drug deal. Though he knows better, he cannot resist the cash left behind and takes it with him. The hunter becomes the hunted when a merciless killer named Chigurh (Javier Bardem) picks up his trail. Also looking for Moss is Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), an aging lawman who reflects on a changing world and a dark secret of his own, as he tries to find and protect Moss.
Critics Consensus: Bolstered by powerful lead performances from Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin and Tommy Lee Jones, No Country for Old Men finds the Coen brothers spinning cinematic gold out of Cormac McCarthy's grim, darkly funny novel.
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Woody Harrelson
Directed By: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
3. Fargo (1996)
Tomatometer: 94%
Audience Score: 92%
Synopsis: "Fargo" is a reality-based crime drama set in Minnesota in 1987. Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy) is a car salesman in Minneapolis who has gotten himself into debt and is so desperate for money that he hires two thugs (Steve Buscemi), (Peter Stormare) to kidnap his own wife. Jerry will collect the ransom from her wealthy father (Harve Presnell), paying the thugs a small portion and keeping the rest to satisfy his debts. The scheme collapses when the thugs shoot a state trooper.
Critics Consensus: Violent, quirky, and darkly funny, Fargo delivers an original crime story and a wonderful performance by McDormand.
Starring: Frances McDormand, Steve Buscemi, William H. Macy, Peter Stormare
Directed By: Joel Coen
2. Blood Simple (1984)
Tomatometer: 94%
Audience Score: 88%
Synopsis: "Blood Simple" was the first feature film from Joel and Ethan Coen. This is the newly restored and re-edited director's cut of the film, introduced by Mortimer Young. The stylish crime thriller premiered at film festivals in 1984. "Blood Simple" begins deep in the heart of Texas, where a jealous saloon owner hires a cheap divorce detective to kill the saloon owner's younger wife and her bartender lover. But the detective gets a better idea: he follows the two lovers, and...
Critics Consensus: Brutally violent and shockingly funny in equal measure, Blood Simple offers early evidence of the Coen brothers' twisted sensibilities and filmmaking ingenuity.
Starring: John Getz, Frances McDormand, M. Emmet Walsh, Dan Hedaya
Directed By: Joel Coen
1. True Grit (2010)
Tomatometer: 95%
Audience Score: 85%
Synopsis: After an outlaw named Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin) murders her father, feisty 14-year-old farm girl Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) hires Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), a boozy, trigger-happy lawman, to help her find Chaney and avenge her father. The bickering duo are not alone in their quest, for a Texas Ranger named LaBoeuf (Matt Damon) is also tracking Chaney for reasons of his own. Together the unlikely trio ventures into hostile territory to dispense some Old West justice.
Critics Consensus: Girded by strong performances from Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and newcomer Hailee Steinfeld, and lifted by some of the Coens' most finely tuned, unaffected work, True Grit is a worthy companion to the Charles Portis book.
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Barry Pepper
Directed By: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
