Joel and Ethan Coen have been two of cinema's most distinct voices since their indie debut, Blood Simple, back in 1984. They work across all genres, from slapstick goofball comedies to somber, brooding dramas and white-knuckle thrillers.
Part of what makes their films so unique and instantly recognizable is their wide array of memorable characters. Some are incompetent, bumbling fools, and others are smart as a whip. Sometimes a dimwitted hero is pitted against an unstoppably shrewd villain. Sometimes the hero is the smartest character in the story who triumphs in the end, and sometimes, the bad guys win.
Smart: Marge Gunderson - Fargo
Frances McDormand is married to Joel Coen, which explains why she's featured in so many of the Coen brothers' films. She won an Oscar for her portrayal of Marge Gunderson in Fargo. Marge is assigned to investigate the death of a state trooper, which leads her to discover the insidious kidnapping plot involving failed car salesman Jerry Lundegaard and the two thugs who committed the murder.
She cracks the case, but most impressively, she gives Jerry the rope to hang himself with when she shows up at his dealership and rattles him without even trying. Her friendly midwestern demeanor and gentle questioning are enough to make Jerry sweat; she's a true master of her craft.
Dumb: Jerry Lundegaard - Fargo
On the receiving end of Marge's brilliant detective skills is the pitiful Jerry Lundegaard, one of the dumbest characters the Coen brothers have ever written. First, he's in dire financial straits despite having been hooked up with a sales manager gig at his father-in-law's car dealership. Second, he hatches a hair-brained scheme to have his wife kidnapped so he could pocket the ransom money from his aforementioned father-in-law.
Third, he didn't bother switching out the dealer plates on the vehicle he gave the kidnappers as part of their payment. Fourth, he lacks the composure not to crack under the mildest questioning once the law finds its way to him. He's just a mess.
Smart: Abby - Blood Simple
Another great McDormand role, this one was in the Coen's acclaimed debut film, Blood Simple. McDormand plays Abby, a young woman caught in a deadly bind between her ex-husband and a private investigator hired to kill her and her new lover.
The plot is full of twists and turns, and Abby doesn't quite get everything right in the end, but given the ruthlessness of her enemies and the plot's many unexpected developments, the fact that she emerges unscathed is a testament to her competence and self-sufficiency.
Dumb: Garth Pancake - The Ladykillers
A remake of the 1955 film of the same name, 2004's The Ladykillers is the Coen brothers' most underrated film. It's light fare, for sure, but it's hysterically funny, thanks to its cast of idiot criminals who try and rob a casino by digging a tunnel to its vault from the basement of an unsuspecting woman's home.
There are many candidates for dumbest Coen character in this ensemble, but J.K. Simmons' Garth Pancake is the one who's stupid enough to blow his own finger off by intentionally pounding a homemade explosive device with a hammer to demonstrate its "total inertness."
Smart: Llewyn Davis - Inside Llewyn Davis
The Coen's fantastic drama Inside Llewyn Davis is loosely based on the real-life of songwriter Dave Van Ronk, the self-described "Mayor of Macdougal Street" who pioneered the Greenwich Village folk music scene just before it exploded into mainstream culture. The Coen's Llewyn Davis is a lowly, curmudgeonly struggling musician, but he's no doubt a songwriting genius.
In the film's final scene, a shadowy Bob Dylan, then unknown, takes the stage as Llewyn exits the venue in despair. This illustrates that Llewyn Davis was, unfortunately, just barely ahead of his time, and thus his talents went largely unrecognized.
Dumb: Walter Sobchak - The Big Lebowski
John Goodman's belligerent bowling bum Walter Sobchak fancies himself a smart, competent, and dangerous warrior. In reality, he's just a dim-witted oaf who makes mistake, after mistake, after mistake.
What makes Walter such a terrific character, and one of the Coen's dumbest, is that even in the face of repeated and increasingly severe failure, he never learns a thing about his own shortcomings. Instead, he only grows more confident with each successive misfire.
Smart: Amy Archer - The Hudsucker Proxy
Jennifer Jason Leigh plays Amy Archer in the Coen's 1994 comedy The Hudsucker Proxy. Amy is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who goes undercover, taking a job as a secretary at Hudsucker Industries, where she discovers a corrupt scheme by the company's executive to devalue its stock and then purchase enough shares to seize it for himself.
She's sharp as a tack and tough as nails, and while the film veers into bizarre territory in its third act, Amy Archer remains one of the Coen's most adept heroes in their filmography.
Dumb: Glen - Raising Arizona
Much like The Ladykillers, there's plenty of stupid to go around in 1987's Raising Arizona, a comedy crime caper about H.I. McDunnogh, an infertile ex-con who kidnaps a baby in order to fulfill his dream of becoming a father. H.I.'s machine shop foreman, Glen, however, takes top prize for the dimmest bulb in the closet. Even when H.I. tries to be profound with him, he can't keep up.
For example, when H.I. asks him, "Do you ever get the feeling there's something powerful pressing down on you?" Glen replies, "Yes I know that feeling. I told Dot to lose some weight but she don't wanna listen."
Smart: Anton Chigurh - No Country For Old Men
Javier Bardem won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as Anton Chigurh in the Coen's 2007 masterpiece, No Country for Old Men. Chigurh is an unstoppable and indestructible killing machine, always at least one step ahead of his prey. His execution is so flawless, many viewers consider his character a metaphor for fate, inevitability, and even death itself.
His ruthlessness and unfailing intelligence make him one of the scariest characters in cinema history. He'll stop at nothing to get what he wants, and in the end, he'll succeed.
Dumb: Chad Feldheimer - Burn After Reading
The plot of the Coen brothers' 2008 film Burn After Reading is too complex to explain here, which means it's way too complex for the dim-witted gym employee, Chad Feldheimer, who gets caught in the middle of it. It all begins when the memoirs of a CIA agent end up on a disc that falls into Chad's hands. His effort to capitalize on this mishap leads him into a web of chaotic events that's far too much for him to handle.
Brad Pitt's performance as this lovable idiot is so endearing that we can't help but feel bad for Chad when he meets his inevitable demise.