X
- 2018
- R
- Netflix
- 2 h 13 m
- 2018
- R
- Netflix
- 2 h 13 m
Summary The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is a six-part Western anthology film, a series of tales about the American frontier told through the unique and incomparable voice of Joel and Ethan Coen. Each chapter tells a distinct story about the American West.
Directed By: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Written By: Jack London, Stewart Edward White, Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
- 2018
- R
- Netflix
- 2 h 13 m
- 2018
- R
- Netflix
- 2 h 13 m
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
79
7.4
Where to Watch
Summary The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is a six-part Western anthology film, a series of tales about the American frontier told through the unique and incomparable voice of Joel and Ethan Coen. Each chapter tells a distinct story about the American West.
Directed By: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Written By: Jack London, Stewart Edward White, Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 48 Critic Reviews
79
94% Positive
45 Reviews
45 Reviews
6% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 48 Critic Reviews
79
94% Positive
45 Reviews
45 Reviews
6% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
“The Mortal Remains” brings all these tales together beautifully, by which I mean in a coda that is somber and hauntingly unsettled, like the last note of a dirge. Its music lingers in the air long after the closing credits.
In its best scenes, this portmanteau of jauntily morbid fireside tales also offers a streak of something else, like the underground vein of gold that Tom Waits’ prospector patiently seeks: the small human moments of surprise, delight, and connection that lie somewhere between the first page of each life’s story and the last.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 338 User Ratings
7.4
78% Positive
263 Ratings
263 Ratings
15% Mixed
51 Ratings
51 Ratings
7% Negative
24 Ratings
24 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 338 User Ratings
7.4
78% Positive
263 Ratings
263 Ratings
15% Mixed
51 Ratings
51 Ratings
7% Negative
24 Ratings
24 Ratings
A great deal of Buster Scruggs might ultimately be a touch undercooked by the mercurial siblings’ standards, but dagnabbit if there isn’s a whole lot to like.
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is a tall tale about death, a murder ballad about us, trapped in a universe that is mostly unreasonable and nonsensical. And at the end of the journey we’re left laughing through the lump in our throat.
However Buster Scruggs came to be, it highlights the best of the Coens' mordant minds, but not without tripping over a few unintended obstacles. Which probably suits the pair, always in awe of things never going right, just fine.
Ultimately, Buster Scruggs is lesser Coen, despite the movie bearing many of the filmmakers’ trademarks. Both silly and serious, it’s a hodgepodge in spurs, a horse opera with nothing but arias.
It’s a strange, grimly comic collection offering many grotesque sight gags, the occasional moment of seriousness and a general wash of melancholic, photogenic, elegiac Old West atmosphere. I liked the least jokey tale the best; by the time it came along, in the fifth-out-of-six slot, I’d had it with the kidding.
One of the Coens' best films to date, this combines all their talents for original dialogue, fascinating character, and hilariously dark storytelling in one grand satire of the Old West.
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The short story format of The Ballad of Buster Scruggs ultimately leads to a mixed experience. There are three good, almost great, stories, one story that isn't so great, and two stories that are honestly pretty bad. It was a rollercoaster of a viewing experience, and unfortunately the good parts this film couldn't save it for me.
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The Ballad of Buster Schruggs is an anthology of awful. While the setting and lives of the characters are captivating, the events which unfold are one decidedly and deliberate series of shockingly gory, degenerate, and depraved. While the West certainly wasn't free from its share of hardship, evil, and unfortunate events, the Ballad of Buster Schruggs goes out of its way to compensate for poor storytelling with gut wrenching shock of watching people do terrible things to other people. And that can be the summary of the entire movie: stylized representation of people doing horrible things to other people. What could have been a thought-provoking and unique dive into the lore and lives of the characters of the west is supplanted by writers who seem to have no other means of leaving an impact other than brutal and graphic deaths of characters.
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I was excited for this after the Coens' excellent True Grit, but it came as a huge disappointment. These are the problems:
- Like a lot of Netflix original content, it looked and felt cheap. It tries to come out strong with a fairly action-packed initial story, but that can't cover for the penny pinching that gradually creeps in, like long stretches that take place in a single location, or long stretches with minimal dialogue (which requires fewer takes to shoot). I wasn't surprised to learn this was initial planned as a TV show, it has a very TV-grade feel to it (though TBH even Netflix's shows look cheap compared to other studios').
- It doesn't ever make a good case for why it exists, other than to let the Coens do their usual (and rather tired) black comedy/satire/melodrama shtick. Netflix is clearly hoping that the Coen name and a few A-list actors (who mostly have minor roles with minimal dialogue) will singlehandedly sell the movie, but that's not how this works. If this were a Wes Anderson movie it would be The Darjeeling Limited.
- As others have noted, it is slow, dull, and full of the usual cliched, portentous, and **** "meditations on life and death" (ugh) typical of postmodern Westerns. Most of the stories coast by on absurdist novelty without emotionally engaging the audience; the one exception is "The Girl Who Got Rattled", which is easily the best part of the movie and the only part that actually succeeds at the basics of storytelling.
- It's a bit tough to criticize the plot or characters because there almost weren't any. The vignettes are supposed to make you feel amused or somber for a few seconds, then to be forgotten forever as the next one queues up. In that sense I guess it really is a true-blue Netflix product, given how much they promote binge watching of trashy content.
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Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 3 Nominations
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards
• 1 Win & 7 Nominations
Chlotrudis Awards
• 3 Nominations
