Allan Watched "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs"
Beautifully presented but at times uneven, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is a mostly successful anthology of interesting Western stories by the Coen brothers.
Gut Feeling
Anthologies are tough to judge. Part of me does not want to treat this like a normal film review, because it is really a collection of short stories, and film is not the best medium to tell these stories, in my opinion. This isn’t the 30’s where movies like Grand Hotel are celebrated, and anthologies are few and far between in modern film. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is both an argument for and against more films like this, but it has plenty of good substance to prove its worth in the new way we distribute stories in 2018.
So let’s break it down. Three of the stories are really great, one is good, one is OK and one is pointless. If these were distributed as a short series, as the Coen brothers first intended, I would forgive the ups and downs in quality, but when you are quickly taken out of the great first story of this set, the titular “Ballad of Buster Scruggs”, and shoved into 20 minutes of James Franco nothingness, it leaves you a little peeved. So instead of going characteristic by characteristic of the film as a whole, below is a short response to the six stories told, then on to the quick hits.
“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”
The film starts wonderfully with its titular short story. Tim Blake Nelson (Oh Brother Where Art Thou, Holes) is fantastic and fun as a white-hat gunslinger, singing his way through town. Nelson’s action scenes are some of my favorite moments of any movie this year, and it has a cartoonish-Westworld feel to it all. When it abruptly ends, you are hopeful that the rest of these stories are as captivating.
“Near Algodones”
After a great start with Buster Scruggs, the movie takes a 40-minute detour where I become very concerned that they started with the best and the rest is just crap. The biggest crap of the film is this short story that starts James Franco. Franco is boring. The story’s writing is bland and feels self-aggrandizing, as we stare at Franco for many minutes with no real dialog, barely curious if he will get out of a hardly interesting situation. This story’s saving grace is that Franco does deliver the funniest line of the movie, and Stephen Root (Office Space) is one of the more entertaining bank tellers you will ever see. But honestly, this story is just 20-plus minutes I will never get back.
“Meal Ticket”
“Meal Ticket” is probably the most disturbing and powerful story of the anthology, even if there is no real arc. It is basically a quick glimpse into the life of an old man and an armless, legless thespian. Liam Neeson plays the old man, and I believe he only mumbles five whole words in the story. It is kind of a waste of Liam Neeson, and could have been played by literally anyone. What makes this story noteworthy though is Harry Melling (Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter films). Melling is captivating, and the pain you read beneath his face as a young man with a truly horrible existence is troubling and beautiful to watch. His only lines are words from famous plays and speeches, but it is what his body says when he is repeatedly taking in his new surroundings that might be the best part of this film.
“All Gold Canyon”
Tom Waits plays an old, grizzly looking dude in the old West searching for gold. That’s basically it, and it is terrific. Waits is brilliant, and it this is likely my favorite of the six stories.
“The Gal Who Got Rattled”
The most complete story of the anthology is “The Gal Who Got Rattled”, a story that surrounds a young woman named Alice played by Zoe Kazan (The Big Sick, Happy. Thank You. More Please.) who is hitting the Oregon Trail with her brother, who has arranged for her to get married in Oregon, and her brother’s dog. Kazan is terrific as she navigates trying to get through the trail safely and with the proper resources, because her brother is a wild card. Stage actor Bill Heck plays Billy Knapp, a man who wants to help and marry Alice. Heck plays the gruff-but-wants-to-be-a-gentleman-and-just-wants-to-cuddle cowboy extremely well, and the story as a whole is beautiful, sad, and the most complete offering of the film.
“The Mortal Remains”
“The Mortal Remains” should really be done on stage. This story has by far the best writing of the anthology, and is the funniest by a mile. The story takes place almost entirely in a stagecoach where five very different people are traveling to Fort Morgan, Colorado. Tyne Daly (Judge Amy, Spider-Man: Homecoming), Brendan Gleesan (Harry Potter series, Into The Storm), Jonjo O’Neill (British stage actor, Band of Brothers), Saul Rubinek (Unforgiven, Wall Street), and Chelcie Ross (Rudy) all share in the glory of this hilariously dense short story. It ends the film so well that even though not all of The Ballad of Buster Scruggs was a success, I would have been fine watching more.
Random Thoughts
Buster Scruggs’ first kill in the big saloon is one of the most badass things I have ever watched in my life.
James Franco is a shitty cowboy.
I could watch 93 minutes of just Stephen Root running with pans all over his body, firing a gun.
President Pierce is an 11/10 dog’s name.
Westworld almost ruined this movie for me, especially in the opening story, because the world felt so familiar, and I expected no one to be really human. But what really does it mean to be human anyway, or to exist at all….dammit Westworld..
I love the storybook presentation of each story. It was beautiful, along with the musical accompaniment.
No title drops, but the title is really just the first story, so we were set up for title-drop failure from the start.
Quick Hits:
How many times have I seen this movie?
First time!
Where was I watching it?
In my office, playing NBA 2K. Although I had to pause the game a lot because there is not a ton of dialog.
Did Kellye Watch it? If Yes, did she like it? If no, would she like it?
Kellye would have liked that there were so many Harry Potter actors in it. Kellye would not have liked much else of it. I would expect a lot of “that was dumb” after each story ended.
Favorite fact I learned from Wikipedia
Brendan Gleeson is a suffering Aston Villa fan just like me!
Favorite part
Every run-on sentence in “The Mortal Remains” cracked me up.
Least favorite part
WHY HAVE LIAM NEESON IF HE IS JUST GOING TO KIND OF STAND THERE AND NOT RESCUE ANYONE OR KILL PEOPLE I DON’T UNDERSTAND.
Would I recommend this movie and why?
I would, because it is a unique approach to stories about the old West, and it is distributed by Netflix, so the “time lost to potential reward of liking it” ratio is pretty favorable.
So What Does Allan Give It?
One Gold Thumbs Up! Overall, a score of 77. There is enough good stuff in these six stories to be entertained, and it is full of great acting and beautiful locations.
