Joel and Ethan Coen are two of the greatest American filmmakers, as some of their credits include No Country For Old Men, Inside Llewyn Davis, and so many others. But while they mostly direct their own screenplays, there have been a handful of times that they have handed their work to other directors.
Sometimes, the brothers worked as writers-for-hire too, even when they were already well established in Hollywood. However, few of the Coens' written work that wasn't directed by them matches up to their own directorial efforts, and, interestingly, they lack that humor and dark flare that their screenplays are known for.
The Naked Man (1998) - 5.2
The Naked Man marked the first-ever time when one of the brothers worked without the other, and it wouldn't happen again until 23 years later with the newly released The Tragedy of Macbeth. The Naked Man was solely written by Ethan Coen, and it's hardly surprising that Joel wanted to sit the project out.
Nobody will ever know why Ethan was so dedicated to such a strange and kitschy movie, especially as this wasn't exactly at the beginning of his career when he was cutting his teeth. The Naked Man was released in 1998 when Ethan Coen was very much an established writer and director. At that point in his career, he had co-written and co-directed classics such as Fargo, The Big Lebowski, and Barton Fink, to name just a few. But for some reason, he wanted to write a movie about a chiropractor who moonlights as a wrestler.
Gambit (2012) - 5.7
On paper, Gambit sounds like a typical Coen bros comedy caper, as it follows a British art curator who tricks somebody into purchasing a fake Monet painting. The 2012 film went through development hell until it landed on the desk of the writing duo, who were, according to Deadline, looking for writer-for-hire work between their main projects.
Being a remake of the 1966 movie of the same name, 2012's Gambit didn't have quite the same reception as the original, and critics and audiences complained that the film was mostly charmless. Unfortunately, when it comes to the Coen brothers' remakes, Gambit ended up being more like The Ladykillers than True Grit. According to the same Deadline article, celebrated writer Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network, Moneyball) was attached to write the film, which would have ended up being an extraordinarily different movie.
Crimewave (1985) - 5.7
The Coen brothers have a tight-knit group of director and actor friends that they often collaborate with, and one of those filmmakers is Sam Raimi. Raimi is a horror auteur who is best known for the hugely entertaining Evil Dead franchise, and after Joel Coen edited the first Evil Dead movie, it led to a great working relationship.
Raimi decided to experiment further with mixing horror and comedy with Crimewave, which was surprisingly co-written by the director and the writing duo. But given that it was widely negatively received by most critics and audiences, it's no surprise that Crimewave was the Coens' first and last foray into the horror genre. However, though it might be far from one of Sam Raimi's best movies, there's still fun to be found in the comedy-horror,
Suburbicon (2017) - 5.8
Just like Raimi, George Clooney is another close friend of the brothers in the industry, so close that the actor practically forced the Coen brothers to direct Hail Caesar by jokingly lying to the press that it was in development. However, Suburbicon might have driven a wedge between the actor and directors.
It's almost as if the Coen brothers don't even bother hiding the fact that they don't have as much interest in films they don't direct themselves. And while other movies like Gambit could have been better in the hands of a different director, that's no excuse with Suburbicon. The 2017 movie was directed by Clooney, who is an incredible filmmaker in his own right, and in the 2000s, he would have been considered one of the best at the time. However, the Matt Damon-starring movie, which is about a home invasion in the 1950s, is the worst George Clooney-directed movie.
Bad Santa (2003) - 7.0
Bad Santa wasn't written wholly by the auteur brothers, as the screenplay is credited to Glen Ficarra and John Requa, but the screenwriting duo did rewrite the movie, even if it was uncredited (they are credited as producers). The Coens have been largely influential to up-and-coming filmmakers that have come and gone over the decades, and there have been so many ambiguous crime movies that come off like pale imitations of their work.
But while Bad Santa is so much like a Coen brothers movie with its morally ambiguous protagonist, the dark humor, and the slow burn that is the unfolding narrative, it's still so original and doesn't come off as derivative. The 2003 movie is also one of the best tragic holiday movies, and despite it having a typically nihilistic vibe that the Coens are known for, it has a little bit of festive spirit too.
Unbroken (2014) - 7.2
The Coen brothers collaborated with two other writers, Richard LaGravenese and William Nicholson, for the screenplay of Unbroken. A long list of writer credits is cause for concern. The phrase, "too many cooks in the kitchen" is no more true than when it comes to different writers editing the script. However, it's a great war drama with incredibly strong performances and ended up being nominated for several Academy Awards.
The two extra screenwriter credits for the movie's screenplay explains a lot, is it's the film mot unlike any of the Coens' own directorial work. It lacks the comedy and surrealism that the brothers are known for, but being a movie about a bomber pilot crash landing in an ocean and then becoming a prisoner of war during World War II, it would have been a little out of place.
Bridge Of Spies (2015) - 7.6
Just like with Unbroken, Bridge of Spies saw the two brothers collaborate on the screenplay with somebody outside of the family. Along with the Coen brothers, the 2015 drama was co-written by Matt Charman. Charman probably played a similar role to LaGravenese and Nicholson too, as he most likely gave the movie a more serious touch and forced the Coen bros. to dial back the humor.
The movie is about a prisoner exchange during the Cold War, as the U.S. trade a convicted KGB spy for a U.S. Air Force pilot with the Soviet Union. It's one of the best dramatizations of a real-life story of the past few years, and director Steven Spielberg does what so few others can, which is making dialogue hit as hard as any action sequence.