Every Coen brothers Movie, Ranked
(L to R) Best Director winners Ethan and Joel Coen backstage during the 80th Annual Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, CA on Sunday, February 24, 2008. Credit/Provider: Matt Petit / ©A.M.P.A.S. Copyright: ©A.M.P.A.S.
Joel and Ethan Coen, better known as the Coen brothers, practically created their own genre and are one of the most acclaimed and celebrated directing teams of all time!
Beginning their career with modern classics like ‘Blood Simple,’ ‘Raising Arizona,’ and ‘Miller’s Crossing,’ the brothers went on to direct such beloved films as ‘The Big Lebowski,’ ‘O Brother Where Art Thou,‘ ‘Burn After Reading,’ and the Oscar-winning ‘Fargo‘ and ‘No Country for Old Men.’
In 2021, Joel Coen directed his first film without his brother, ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth,’ starring Denzel Washington. Now, opening in theaters on February 23rd is Ethan Coen’s new solo directing effort entitled ‘Drive-Away Dolls,’ which stars Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan.
In honor of Ethan Coen’s new film, Moviefone is counting down every film the Coen brothers have ever directed together or apart.
NOTE: For this list we are only including the Coen Brothers full-length feature films, both together and solo, but we are not including their documentaries or participation in anthology movies like ‘Paris, je t’aime.’
Let’s begin!
(L to R) George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones in ‘Intolerable Cruelty.’ Photo: Universal Pictures.
A revenge-seeking gold digger (Catherine Zeta-Jones) marries a womanizing Beverly Hills lawyer (George Clooney) with the intention of making a killing in the divorce.
“They can’t keep their hands off each others assets.”
59
1 hr 40 minSep 2nd, 2003
Tim Blake Nelson is Buster Scruggs in ‘The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,’ a film by Joel and Ethan Coen. Photo: Netflix.
Vignettes weaving together the stories of six individuals in the old West at the end of the Civil War. Following the tales of a sharpshooting songster (Tim Blake Nelson), a wannabe bank robber (James Franco), two weary traveling performers (Zoe Kazan and Jefferson Mays), a lone gold prospector (Tom Waits), a woman traveling the West to an uncertain future (Tyne Daly) and a motley crew of strangers undertaking a carriage ride.
“Stories live forever People dont”
71
2 hr 12 minNov 9th, 2018
Michael Stuhlbarg in ‘A Serious Man.’ Photo: Focus Features.
It is 1967, and Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlberg), a physics professor at a quiet Midwestern university, has just been informed by his wife, Judith (Sari Lennick) that she is leaving him. She has fallen in love with one of his more pompous acquaintances, Sy Ableman (Fred Melamed).
(L to R) Billy Bob Thornton and James Gandolfini in ‘The Man Who Wasn’t There.’ Photo: USA Films.
A tale of murder, crime and punishment set in the summer of 1949. Ed Crane (Billy Bob Thornton), a barber in a small California town, is dissatisfied with his life, but his wife Doris’ (Frances McDormand) infidelity and a mysterious opportunity presents him with a chance to change it.
Tom Hanks in ‘The Ladykillers.’ Photo: Touchstone Pictures.
An eccentric if not charming Southern professor (Tom Hanks) and his crew pose as a band in order to rob a casino all under the nose of his unsuspecting landlord, a sharp old woman (Irma P. Hall).
“The greatest criminal minds of all time have finally met their match.”
61
1 hr 44 minMar 26th, 2004
Denzel Washington in ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth.’ Photo: A24.
From Academy Award©-winning filmmaker Joel Coen comes the propulsive, boldly cinematic ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth,’ starring Oscar-winners Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand as the devious, ill-fated “Macbeth†and “Lady Macbeth.†An original, striking reimagining of the classic Shakespearean tale portrayed in sumptuous black-and-white cinematography, ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’ finds the titular general and his loyal wife older and warier, desperately striving against a merciless ticking clock as they attempt to seize upon a final opportunity for power. In the chaos that ensues, their grasp on the throne unravels, terror mounts and regret enshrouds every inch of their wretched world.
(L to R) John Turturro and Jon Polito in ‘Barton Fink.’ Photo: 20th Century Fox.
A renowned New York playwright (John Turturro) is enticed to California to write for the movies and discovers the hellish truth of Hollywood.
“There’s only one thing stranger than what’s going on inside his head…what’s going on outside.”
75
1 hr 57 minAug 1st, 1991
Frances McDormand in ‘Blood Simple.’ Photo: Circle Films.
The owner of a seedy smalltown Texas bar (Dan Hedaya) discovers that one of his employees (John Getz) is having an affair with his wife (Frances McDormand). A chaotic chain of misunderstandings lies and mischief ensues after he devises a plot to have them murdered.
(L to R) John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson and George Clooney in ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’ Photo: Buena Vista Pictures Distribution.
In the deep south during the 1930s three escaped convicts (George Clooney, John Turturro and Tom Blake Nelson) search for hidden treasure while a relentless lawman (Daniel von Bargen) pursues them. On their journey they come across many comical characters and incredible situations. Based upon Homer’s Odyssey.
(L to R) Holly Hunter and Nicolas Cage in ‘Raising Arizona.’ Photo: 20th Century Fox.
When a childless couple (Holly Hunter and Nicolas Cage) decide to help themselves to one of another family’s quintuplets their lives become more complicated than they anticipated.
“Their lawless years are behind them Their childrearing years lay ahead”
70
1 hr 34 minMar 1st, 1987
Javier Bardem in ‘No Country for Old Men.’ Photo: Miramax Films.
Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) stumbles upon dead bodies, $2 million and a hoard of heroin in a Texas desert, but methodical killer Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) comes looking for it, with local sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) hot on his trail. The roles of prey and predator blur as the violent pursuit of money and justice collide.
9. ‘Fargo‘ (1996)
Frances McDormand in ‘Fargo.’ Photo: Working Title Films.
Jerry (William H. Macy) a small-town Minnesota car salesman is bursting at the seams with debt but he’s got a plan. He’s going to hire two thugs (Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare) to kidnap his wife (Kristin Rudrüd) in a scheme to collect a hefty ransom from his wealthy father-in-law (Harve Presnell). It’s going to be a snap and nobody’s going to get hurt until people start dying. Enter Police Chief Marge (Frances McDormand), a coffee-drinking parka-wearing and extremely pregnant investigator who’ll stop at nothing to get her man. And if you think her smalltime investigative skills will give the crooks a run for their ransom, you betcha.
Jeff Bridges in ‘True Grit.’ Photo: Paramount Pictures.
Following the murder of her father by a hired hand, a 14-year-old farm girl (Hailee Steinfeld) sets out to capture the killer. To aid her she hires the toughest US Marshal she can find, a man with true grit, Reuben J Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges).
(L to R) Margaret Qualley as “Jamie” and Geraldine Viswanathan as “Marian” in director Ethan Coen’s ‘Drive-Away Dolls,’ a Focus Features release. Credit: Wilson Webb / Working Title / Focus Features.
Jamie (Margaret Qualley), an uninhibited free spirit bemoaning yet another breakup with a girlfriend, and her demure friend Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan) desperately needs to loosen up. In search of a fresh start, the two embark on an impromptu road trip to Tallahassee, but things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals along the way.
“A story of two ladies going south.”
Jamie, an uninhibited free spirit bemoaning yet another breakup with a girlfriend, and her demure friend Marian desperately needs to loosen up. In search of a fresh… Read the Plot
Channing Tatum in ‘Hail, Caesar!’ Photo: Universal Pictures.
When a Hollywood star (George Clooney) mysteriously disappears in the middle of filming, the studio sends their fixer (Josh Brolin) to get him back.
(L to R) Jennifer Jason Leigh and Tim Robbins in ‘The Hudsucker Proxy.’ Photo: Warner Bros.
A naive business graduate (Tim Robbins) is installed as president of a manufacturing company as part of a stock scam.
“They took him for a fall guy… but he threw them for a hoop.”
71
1 hr 51 minJan 27th, 1994
1990’s ‘Miller’s Crossing.’ Photo: 20th Century Fox.
Set in 1929, a political boss (Albert Finney) and his advisor (Gabriel Byrne) have a parting of the ways when they both fall for the same woman (Marcia Gay Harden).
“Up is down, black is white, and nothing is what it seems.”
75
1 hr 55 minSep 21st, 1990
Brad Pitt in ‘Burn After Reading.’ Photo: Focus Features.
When a disc containing memoirs of a former CIA analyst (John Malkovich) falls into the hands of gym employees, Linda (Frances McDormand) and Chad (Brad Pitt), they see a chance to make enough money for Linda to have life-changing cosmetic surgery. Predictably, events whirl out of control for the duo, and those in their orbit.
Oscar Isaac in ‘Inside Llewyn Davis.’ Photo: CBS Films.
In Greenwich Village in the early 1960s, gifted but volatile folk musician Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) struggles with money, relationships, and his uncertain future.
Jeff Bridges in ‘The Big Lebowski.’ Photo: Paramount Pictures.
Jeffrey ‘The Dude’ Lebowski (Jeff Bridges), a Los Angeles slacker who only wants to bowl and drink White Russians, is mistaken for another Jeffrey Lebowski (David Huddleston), a wheelchair-bound millionaire, and finds himself dragged into a strange series of events involving nihilists, adult film producers, ferrets, errant toes, and large sums of money.
“They figured he was a lazy, time-wasting slacker. They were right.”
78
1 hr 57 minFeb 26th, 1998
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