The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)

NETFLIX

Director:

Ethan Coen

Joel Coen

Starring:

Tim Blake Nelson

James Franco

Liam Neeson

Harry Melling

Tom Waits

Bill Heck

Zoe Kazan

Grainger Hines

Jonjo O’Neill

Brendan Gleeson

Saul Rubinek

Tyne Daly

Chelcie Ross

Plot:

An anthology film comprised of six stories, each dealing with a different aspect of life in the Old West.

Review:

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is a Western anthology in which at least one person dies in every story. The first story is amusing and fun to watch, while each story after that is various levels of depressing. It was not what I expected and while I enjoyed some parts of it and the stories will probably stick with me a while, I didn’t really like it.

The first story is Buster Scruggs, it’s filled with music and seeming magic, it’s fun. The next story is Near Algodones and it is also fairly amusing and fun, with a tragic, though, deserved ending. Things take a dark and depressing turn with Meal Ticket and it made me really sad. All Gold Canyon was depressing in a different way, though, it had beautiful scenery. I ended up talking to the TV a fair amount during The Girl Who Got Rattled and was seriously hoping it would take a different turn than it did. Sadly, by the time we got to the final story, The Mortal Remains, I had checked out and did not pay as much attention to it. So if it was a fitting ending, I’m not sure.

I wasn’t a fan of The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, but then it’s not really the type of movie I like to watch. I will say, after watching something so depressing, I’m really looking forward to some Christmas movies.

2/5