The Coen brothers continue in their auteur genre that sort of defies definition but you know it when you see it. This anthology of six stories, which maybe have a theme and maybe don't, are all deliberately and above board about bursting the bubble on the view that heroes defined the American West. I was convinced by one of my sons that the first and last story are clearly linked, but the things that happen in the middle four stories seem the revolve around a thematic center, but are really largely independent of each other. The screenplay is whip smart (as you would expect), the cast of characters are superbly played by excellent actors, some known, others less so, the musical score is top notch, and the cinematography is breathtaking. No matter how you feel about the winning of the West, it is a gorgeous place to be.
This is a movie put together from bits and pieces of cinematic tropes,
conventions, and clichés, including ones borrowed from a range of
genres, from ingenious physical comedy to romantic lyricism to Gothic
horror. But all are united by a giddy Western revisionism centering upon
a common theme: the relentless cruelty, wanton violence, deadly
recklessness, and cavalier abuses of unchecked power that prevailed in
the thinly and casually governed Wild West. With a Quentin Tarantino helping of gore. If clinging to the mythology of what the West was in the mid 1800's is yout thing, skip this. Otherwise, it is something to enjoy.
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