Since the release of their debut film back in 1984, Joel and Ethan Coen have been two of the most prolific and unique filmmakers in American cinema. Even though their films tackle a wide range of subject matter, their style is distinctly their own, regardless of the genre they're working in.
The Coen brothers are known for their quirky, oddball characters and their dark sense of humor. Many of their films could be considered dark comedies, while some are more dark than funny and some funnier than dark. Here are 5 examples of their darkest films, and 5 examples of their funniest.
Darkest: Blood Simple
One of the Coens' darkest efforts is their directorial debut, Blood Simple. To this day, the film is considered one of the prime examples of neo-noir, a sub-genre the Coens have worked in a few different times over the course of their careers.
Blood Simple takes place deep in the heart of Texas, where a bar owner hires a divorce detective to murder his unfaithful wife and her new lover. This would not be only the debut film for the Coens, but it was the debut film role for Frances McDormand, who married Joel Coen in April of 1984, the year the film was released.
Funniest: The Ladykillers
2004's The Ladykillers is considered a minor Coen brothers film, and rightfully so. It's a remake of the 1955 film of the same name, and it's unabashedly silly. Tom Hanks stars as professor G.H. Dorr, who convinces an elderly woman to rent him her basement for musical rehearsals with his classical music ensemble. The "band," however, is a motley crew of thieves who Dorr has enlisted to dig a tunnel from the basement to a nearby casino vault, where a fortune awaits. J.K. Simmons, Marlon Wayans, and a great ensemble cast of misfits make for a very funny time at the movies.
Darkest: Miller's Crossing
1990's Miller's Crossing is not without its share of dark humor, but for the most part, it's a rather straightforward period crime drama. The violence is grisly, and the characters are unforgiving, hardened gangsters to whom nothing is sacred. Gabriel Byrne plays Tom Reagan, whose loyalties to his mob boss are strained when he's tasked with keeping the peace between rival families who become increasingly hostile over the course of the film.
To this day, Miller's Crossing has a loyal following of fans who insist that, despite it not being considered a Coen classic, it is among their very best films.
Funniest: Raising Arizona
1987's Raising Arizona was the Coens' follow-up to their neo-noir debut, Blood Simple. It's a considerably lighter affair, though it does involve a good deal of mischief. Nicolas Cage plays H.I. McDunnough, an infertile ex-con, who, along with his wife Edwina, kidnaps a baby in order to fulfill their dreams of parenthood.
McDunnogh is a total airhead, but given this cast of characters, he's not even the dumbest of the bunch. Sam McMurray nearly steals the film as Glen, H.I.'s machine shop foreman whose dimwitted dialogue is the source of many f the film's biggest laughs.
Darkest: No Country For Old Men
Among the bleakest entries in the Coen's catalog is the Oscar-winning 2007 film, No Country for Old Men. A brilliantly executed adaptation of the novel by Cormac McCarthy, the film tells the bloody story of a missing $2 million loot from a failed drug deal and those who are determined to bank it.
It combines classic western elements with modern noir techniques to create a literary film about fate, death, and godlessness. It's as dark as movies come, but it's a true masterpiece.
Funniest: Burn After Reading
The genius of Burn After Reading is that it's a very complicated spy movie whose characters are, for the most part, dumb as dirt. Chaos ensues when the memoirs of a CIA agent end up in the hands of two gym employees played by Brad Pitt and Frances McDormand. They intend to cash in, but things spiral out of control.
John Malkovich is hysterically funny as the CIA analyst whose disc is missing, and Pitt and McDormand are excellent in their roles as well. Burn After Reading isn't one of the Coens' best, but it delivers on the promise of big and frequent laughs.
Darkest: A Serious Man
2009's A Serious Man isn't a violent film, but that doesn't mean it isn't one of the darkest and bleakest films in the Coen brothers' catalog. The story centers around Larry Gopnik, played by Michael Stuhlbarg. Throughout the film, his life unwinds in just about every way possible.
His marriage is failing, his unemployed brother is forced to move in with him, and his career is being undermined by a mysterious saboteur. He's also made aware of some potentially serious health problems, and as the film ends, a tornado bears down on his son's school. There are several ways to interpret A Serious Man: as a religious metaphor, a nihilistic parable, or perhaps even a pitch-black absurdist farce. Either way, it's one "seriously" bleak film.
Funniest: Fargo
A sign of the genius of Fargo is that it could just as easily be deemed one of the Coens' darkest films if not for their plethora of other titles that fit that description. Fargo is a violent crime caper that's also hysterically funny. William H. Macy's Jerry Lundegaard is perhaps the dumbest of all Coen characters, a pathetic failed car salesman who hires a couple of misfit criminals to kidnap his wife. Frances McDormand plays the disarming but whip-smart Marge, who cracks the case.
The darkness of the material combined with the stupidity of the villains and the charming innocence of the heroes gives Fargo a delightful comic quality, despite its dark subject matter.
Darkest: The Man Who Wasn't There
There's "neo-noir," and then there's just plain old film noir. 2001's The Man Who Wasn't There is the Coen's homage to the beloved genre of yesteryear. It's filmed in beautiful black and white by cinematographer Roger Deakins, who earned an Oscar nomination for his work. It takes place in the 1940s when a barber played by Billy Bob Thornton decides to blackmail his wife's boss and illicit lover to secure start-up funds for a dry cleaning business.
As is the case in all film noir genre films, the plan goes horribly wrong and leads to even more disturbing developments. The Man Who Wasn't There is one of the Coens' unsung masterworks that audiences should be sure to seek out.
Funniest: The Big Lebowski
1998's The Big Lebowski was perhaps too odd for mainstream audiences at the time of its release, as it was a box office bomb. Since then, of course, it's become one of the biggest cult classics of all time, and for good reason: it's one of the funniest movies ever made. Jeff Bridges plays Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski, who's mistaken for a millionaire of the same name and implicated in a mysterious kidnapping plot when the latter's wife goes missing. Hysterically funny and endlessly clever, The Big Lebowski can be watched over and over again without getting old.