Coenesque or Coen-esque movies. Movies Like Coen Brothers Movies but not directed by Coen Bros. themselves. Either Influenced them or are Influenced by Them.

The pace of the film, small town politics, twisting plot-line, violence, black comedy and brooding characters all have a Coen Brothers feel about Charley Varrick and we can safely say that this is the most Coenesque movie of all time.

In Charley Varrick (1973) the audience spends the first part of the film wondering why the main character (Walter Matthau) is so inept and clumsy, only to find out at the end that it is all part of his plan for the coup of a lifetime. The fast and carefully constructed story evolves in a world of moral ambivalence and violence, where a not-so-good-guy is still a lot better than the bad guys. He is a descendant of the classic noir hero, a man who is never very good—whose character may in fact be profoundly ambiguous—but who in the end proves to have some sense of morals.

There are strong echoes of Varrick’s character in Josh Brolin’s Llewellyn Moss in No Country for Old Men (2007), except that the Coens kill off their loner who takes on the big guys long before the end of the film—to thwart anticipations, to shake the story, to shock. The relentless killer (Joe Don Baker) in Charley Varrick also reappears in the Coen brothers’ “remake” (played by Javier Bardem), and again the Coens refuse catharsis. They let the dead-eyed murderer walk away at the finale, whereas Siegel’s pudgy, smiling killer gets his comeuppance.

Siegel counterposed these character explorations with a high degree of technical cinematic accomplishment: It was a way of having his aesthetic cake and eating it too. (This also seems to have rubbed off on the Coen brothers, and, in certain of his films, Quentin Tarantino, though perhaps not in a way that Siegel would necessarily endorse.)

Fargo meets No Country for Old Men. It is only befitting that this movie was made by Coen brothers friend and previous collaborator i.e. Sam Raimi.

The Fortune is in the Top 5 All-Time Favorite films for both Joel and Ethan Coen. Joel rates it #1.

Two bumbling hustlers in the 1920s attempt to gain the fortune of an heiress. Nothing will stop them, not even murder.

Throughout it felt like a Coen's comedy (O Brother), the dialogue and the characters. And the trunk on the beach reminded of Barton Fink.

Its darker themes, especially towards the end, mirror some of the Coen's comedic work, especially The Ladykillers remake, The Big Lebowski and Burn After Reading.

Interesting Movie for Coen Bros Fans.

This is a movie in which Jeff Bridges plays a slacker/underachiever who is dragged deeper and deeper into a mystery by his unhinged Vietnam Vet friend who is more obsessed with the case than he is. The investigation of the case ultimately brings about tragic consequences. It's a very bleak film.

The Big Lebowski is a movie in which Jeff Bridges plays a slacker/underachiever who is dragged deeper and deeper into a mystery by his unhinged Vietnam Vet friend who is more obsessed with the case than he is. The investigation of the case ultimately brings about tragic consequences. It's a very funny film.

Hmmmm

I noticed Jeff Bridges in the film did a lot of ‘Hey man’s’ and ‘hey dude’s’ in this film and it did raise a smile. Especially when he was driving his crummy car. It just needed some Creedence on the soundtrack. Oh and those sunglasses were straight out of TBL as well! When Alex is bleeding at the end of the film, Bone should have said ‘Not on the rug… man’ as a closing line.

Not to mention that the climactic scene where Bone crashes Cord's Santa Barbara "garden party" bears certain similarities to when the Dude shows up and is ejected from Jackie Treehorn's beach bash. Come to think of it, Cord and Treehorn are a lot alike: rich, powerful, balding men who are above the law, etc.

The diner that Cutter, Bone and Mo go to after the parade i.e. John's Coffee Shop is the same diner Walter and The Dude go to where Walter is asked to keep his voice down by the waitress.

A Corssover between Raising Arizona and The Big Lebowski.

It is common knowledge that the Coen Bros don't do sequels so in a way it is the highest form of flattery that someone felt compelled to do possibly the closest thing to a sequel ... more of an homage really .. to Fargo. Those are big shoes to fill both in front of and behind the camera.

I enjoyed the film, and these Coen brothers similarities weren't without notice:

Malkovich: Burn After Reading Billy Bob: Intolerable Cruelty, Fargo TV series, The Man Who Wasn't There, Bad Santa Large Native American: Fargo Michael Stuhlbarg (Derby Milton): A Serious Man Oliver Platt: Fargo TV series

Plus, the director helmed a few episodes of the Fargo TV series.

Fargo had a bunch of local eccentrics but was showcased by one standout performance. Cut Bank does not have one standout performance but that is not necessarily a bad thing. In Cut Bank Montana everyone is on the same level of nuts, and that fact works to keep the film chugging along.

My personal favorite was the local hermit who, upset that his mail is missing (that's another story arc that ties in later) walks around acting like Rain Main but at the same time going all MMA on anyone who gets into his way. Memorable. And pretty unique.

Plots form. People plan, people die, people eat peach cobbler and say clever things .... and pretty soon the film is over.

The ending is a highpoint. Clever. And sticks with you, like a Life Lesson you never asked for. Very fitting, if you live in Cut Bank. And want more than anything to leave.

If you are a fan of Coen brothers work, you should see this movie as soon as possible, this is the best dark comedy every filmed.

Does this sound familiar: two criminals lose a cash-stuffed bag in a snowy field, a car skids off an icy road, a witness is shot in the back, and a level-headed investigator (Brian Keith) is supported by a loving spouse? Fargo's chilly nightscape owes a massive amount of debt to Tourneur's noir.

and if you thought the coen connection ends here, well, read on, we have no country for old men again meets Fargo in this one, the difference though is that this movie outdates both the movies.

We have a guy who unwittingly comes up with money belonging to gangsters. The only difference is that there are just two gangsters in this movie. But they are basically the two main gangsters of No Country. One is a homicidal maniac who makes murder a game, and the other looks down upon him, but uses him in his organization.

We have Gregory being cloned to a tee by Jones as an investigator in over his head, speaking with his wife with disillusionment. A complete ditto there.

The entire story of No Country is obviously an updated version of "okay, lets do it with the theme of bad guys being supermen".

Which is, of course, what No Country does. The sadist in the movie is a demi god, an invulnerable villain who can't be killed or hurt cause he's so evil, he has a super power because of it.

Which makes NIGHTFALL look like a twin brother of No Country. Here, there are no "favorites". Nothing is contrived. It just flows naturally. No supernatural force inside the bad guys that make them supermen.

It would be hard to argue that The Man Who Wasn't There belongs in the sci-fi section in Blockbuster Video, but influences from this fifties sci-fi run underneath its surface. The flying saucer is an obvious nod, but the detached, unemotional Billy Bob has more in common with Space's characters than the title would suggest.

Think "No Country for Old Men".

Burned out on comedies, Hollywood director John L. Sullivan aspires to make a “serious” film (called O Brother, Where Art Thou?) about modern social problems. He sets out on a Steinbeckian cross-country journey to learn how the simple folk live, and along the way, realizes the power of laughter to transcend poverty and hardship. Preston Sturges wrote and directed this favorite of the Coen Brothers, which provided them with both the road-trip theme and the title for their 2000 musical comedy.

Coen bros, "Raising Arizona" with Nicholas Cage. it's a comedy with plot and character similarities. in fact, i am pretty sure "Straight Time"' sort of inspired the 'writers' for that movie. Watch and find the connections :). Here's a hint :- watch out for the character of H.I. his life of recidivism.

This movie suited their style so much that they remade it.

I just watched Mystery Train and was struck by the Steve Buscemi character getting shot by his supposed brother-in-law, "Elvis." His lines are exactly the lines he uses in Fargo when the kidnaped woman's father shoots him in the deserted parking lot while delivering the ransom money.

Not only does the movie feel coenesque, but the end is exactly same to coen's first movie Blood Simple. In the end of both movies It's the bullet holes. Both films climax with a gun going off through a wall and light shining through the holes.

I have to say though, the movie had some very good irony and employed a load of classic film noir tricks (the final outcome must have influenced the Coen Brothers with "The Man Who Wasn't There"

If you happen to be a fan of the Coen Brothers (Fargo, Blood Simple) dark and violent, yet subtle comedic style—or liked my previous recommendation of Jeremy Saulnier’s Blue Ruin—then Headhunters may be a good choice to queue up on Netflix sometime soon.

Based on the 2008 novel of the same name from author Jo Nesbø, Headhunters follows the story of Roger Brown (Aksel Hennie), an executive recruiter for major corporations who moonlights as an art thief—using the knowledge gained from the hopeful CEO’s he interviews to plan his heists.

When the short-statured Brown is introduced by his tall, good-looking wife to an equally tall and good-looking man who also happens to possess a rare painting worth millions, Brown’s Napoleon complex kicks into full gear as he’s found his next mark. The problem is that this is no ordinary businessman he’s targeting; it is ex-special forces commando Clas Greve (played by Game of Thrones’ Nikolaj Coster-Waldau).

Robert Altman’s clever update of Raymond Chandler’s mystery is set in Los Angeles circa 1974. Hardly a pure adaptation, Elliot Gould gives the best performance of his career as a wry, laconic version of sleuth Phillip Marlowe. Like all of the characters found in The Big Lebowski, Gould’s Marlowe occupies a time and place in which he is obsolete. Says Joel, “The Dude is obviously a classic sixties burnout case, but Goodman’s character too identifies himself as a Vietnam vet. Julianne Moore is that kind of Fluxus artist who’s passe now. So they’re all meant to be anachronistic in a way.”

At the invitation of old friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles), down-on-his-luck novelist Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) arrives in post-war Vienna to start a new job. Shocked to learn that Harry was just killed in a suspicious accident, Martins begins to investigate his death, and uncovers some disturbing truths about his friend. With a taut screenplay by Graham Greene, based on his novel. In preparation for shooting their inaugural feature Blood Simple, the Coens went to see a revival of this classic noir thriller, with their cinemotographer Barry Sonnenfeld in tow.

Preston Sturges mixture of stupid names, pratfalls and social satire paves the way for Coen comedies like The Hudsucker Proxy and Raising Arizona, whilst Eddie Bracken's take on Norval Jones shares more than just a similar name with Hudsucker's Norville Barnes.

A dark river of fatalism courses beneath the beautifully photographed vistas of “Slow West,” an intriguingly off-center Western that brings a bevy of European talent to bear on an American frontier story. Starring Kodi Smit-McPhee as a young Scotsman who’s made the journey to Colorado in search of the woman he loves, and Michael Fassbender as a wily companion who turns out to be hunting the same quarry, John Maclean’s impeccably crafted writing-directing debut at times has a distinctly Coen-esque flavor in its mix of sly intelligence, bleak humor and unsettling violence, exuding fierce confidence even when these qualities don’t always cohere in the smoothest or most emotionally impactful fashion. Winner of the grand jury prize in the international dramatic competition at Sundance, this U.K.-New Zealand co-production should travel far on the strength of its critical reception and cast names; A24’s Stateside release date has yet to be announced.

You can also call "The big Lebowski" as a Chandleresque movie. Humphrey Bogart stars as private dick Philip Marlowe in this complex Howard Hawks mystery. Marlowe is hired by a wealthy old man to investigate the blackmailing of his morally dubious younger daughter. While hot on the perp’s trail, sparks fly between Marlowe and the General’s other daughter, the spirited Vivian (Lauren Bacall). William Faulkner co-wrote the screenplay, based on Raymond Chandler’s hard-boiled novel. About their inspiration for The Big Lebowski, Joel Coen says, “We wanted to do a Chandler kind of story — how it moves episodically and deals with the characters trying to unravel a mystery. As well as having a hopelessly complex plot that’s ultimately unimportant.” Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man.

It's that good that they remade it :)

Macon-Blair-blue-ruin-movie-review-worldEverything from the astute framing of each shot, its dark humour and its character subtleties, to its ruthlessness and unflinching intensity, screams The Coen Brothers. However, whilst the Oscar winning duo are a clear influence here, Jeremy Saulnier has borrowed from their astute palate of colours, to craft his own unique, stunning, and highly effective thriller.

Cary Grant and Irene Dunne play a Manhattan socialite couple counting down to divorce and sparring all the way. Director Leo McCarey treats the courtroom with as much farce as The Coen's do in Intolerable Cruelty, and Grant is also an obvious influence on Clooney.

Based on actual events, this film follows the public and private dealings that take place as the U.S. Senate holds confirmation hearings on a controversial Secretary of State nominee (Henry Fonda). Blackmail, smear tactics, and political trade-offs are par for the course. As kids, the Coen brothers staged their own version of this film on Super 8mm, which they edited in-camera. This early foray into political melodrama would lay the groundwork for Burn After Reading.

When he inherits a relative’s fortune, small-town tuba player Longfellow Deeds (Gary Cooper) heads to New York City. There he is preyed upon by a gaggle of greedy unsavory types, including sexy reporter Babe Bennett (Jean Arthur), who uses Deeds’ attraction to her as a means to manipulate him. You will recognize the influence of Frank Capra’s charming screwball comedy on the Coen Brothers’ The Hudsucker Proxy.

they were the executive producers

An American pilot (Lee Marvin) is shot down over a remote Pacific island during World War II. He soon discovers that he shares the island with a stranded Japanese officer (the iconic Toshiro Mifune). As the tagline boasts, “They hunted each other as enemies...they tormented each other as savages...they faced each other as men!” The Coens’ abandoned remake of To the White Sea bore striking thematic resemblances to this film, as does their acclaimed No Country for Old Men. Joel cites the similarities as “almost no dialog, a bizarre score, and guys fighting and doing lots of stuff with their hands."

Another Preston Sturges movie the coens are inspired from.

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