Day 363 of the challenge! I really should have saved The Ballad of Buster Scruggs for the end. So much of that Coen Bros. goodness!
I’m not big on westerns. Like at all. I adore the brutal and introspective nature of most modern day neo-westerns, but for some reason I just can’t get behind the the slow macho grit of the traditional ones… unless it’s a Coen Brothers western! An anthology film made up of 6 different stories set in the bizarre frontier, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is fun, dark, and hilarious. In other words, it’s everything you would expect from a Coen Brothers film.
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is a roller coaster, whipping you from one beautifully shot oddball tale to the next, each at a nice brisk pace. One moment you’ll be singing along to a whimsical musical number in a saloon, and the next suddenly find yourself facing the harsh nature of man, losing yourself in an existential crisis, only to be whipped back to something different but just as good. Leave it to the Coens to craft an anthology where all 6 stories are masterfully crafted.