Tim Blake Nelson is Buster Scruggs, a singing cowboy who arrives in the town of Frenchman’s Gulch looking for a game of poker and a drink of whiskey to whet his whistle.
He finds trouble in the form of a poker player named Curly Joe, who insists that Buster play a hand dealt to someone who just bowed out of the game.
Problem is, it’s the dead man’s hand. Meaning Buster’s reluctant. And even more so because Curly Joe is the only man in the saloon who hasn’t abided by the rule that requires customers to hand over their guns prior to entry.
Well, Buster does away with Curly Joe in a rather ingenious way, then busts into song about the latest notch on his six-gun.
That doesn’t sit well with Curly Joe’s brother, who promptly challenges Buster to a showdown.
It won’t be the last time Buster’s ability with a six-gun is tested in Frenchman’s Gulch.
And carefree as he seems, Buster isn’t the only person struggling to survive in the violent, chaotic West.
So is a cowboy (James Franco) who decides to rob the wrong bank, an Impresario who finds his meal-ticket drying up, a prospector who stumbles upon a virgin valley and a woman who’s brother dies on the wagon trip West.
Tim Blake Nelson as Buster Scruggs, ready for another showdown in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
Zoe Kazan as Alice Longabaugh, listening to a warning from wagon train guide Mr. Arthur in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
Review:
Six short stories delivered movie style by the team of Joel and Ethan Coen, the same brothers who brought us “No County for Old Men” and the 2010 remake of “True Grit.”
Here, they score high marks for originality at a time when original ideas aren’t exactly plentiful in the new Westerns being released.
The first tale is a delightfully wicked mix of the old singing cowboy films and the violence the permeates today’s Westerns, the type of violence you’d never see back then.
You’re unlikely to forget the Impresario and his meal ticket, a man named Harrison who’s lost all four of his limbs and finds a smaller and smaller audience for his erudite performances.
And “The Gal Who Got Rattled” — featuring Zoe Kazan as that girl — is wonderfully done and full of surprises, even if it’s the most traditional of the six stories.
The final story is more predictable and a bit of a letdown considering what preceded it. But it also nicely frames the collection.
On a stage bound for Fort Morgan, a trapper argues that all people are alike. They are not, insists the aging lady sitting next to him; there are two distinct types. A vigorous debate ensues over what those two types are.
In the end, it’s clear the two types are those still among the living and those who are not.
And in spite of all the its promises — of riches, of a fresh start, of unexplored possibilities — those able to remain among the former group in the violent West are indeed among the lucky.
James Franco, as the cowboy, revealing his intent — to rob the bank in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
Stephen Root as the bank teller bragging about what happened the first two times someone tried to rob his bank in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
Directed by:
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Casts:
“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”
Tim Blake Nelson … Buster Scruggs
Willie Watson … The Kid
David Krumholtz … Frenchman In Saloon
E.E. Bell … Saloon Piano Player
Tom Proctor … Cantina Bad Man
Alejandro Patiño … Cantina Bartender
Clancy Brown … Çurly Joe
Danny McCarthy … Çurly Joe’s Brother
“Near Algodones”
James Franco … Cowboy
Stephen Root … Teller
Ralph Ineson … Posse Leader
Jesse Luken … Drover
“Meal Ticket”
Liam Neeson … Impresario
Harry Melling … Harrison, The Artist
Paul Rae … Chicken Impresario
“All Gold Canyon”
Tom Waits … Prospector
Sam Dillon … Young Man
“The Gal Who Got Rattled”
Zoe Kazan … Alice Longabaugh
Bill Heck … Billy Knapp
Grainger Hines …. Mr. Arthur
Jefferson Mays … Gilbert Longabaugh
Ethan Dubin … Matt
Jackamoe Buzzell … Boarder #3
Rod Rondeaux … Sioux Chief
“The Mortal Remains”
Tyne Daly … The Lady
Brendan Gleeson … Clarence, The Irishman
Jonjo O’Neill … Thigpen, The Englishman
Saul Rubinek … René, Frenchman
Chelcie Ross … Trapper
Runtime: 133 min.
Tom Waits as the prospector who’s sure there’s a pocket of gold nearby in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
Willie Watson as The Kid, arriving in Frenchman’s Gulch intending to see if he’s faster than Buster in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
Memorable lines:
Buster Scruggs: “I’d like me a splash of whiskey to wash the trail dust off my gullet and keep my singing voice in fiddle.”
Bartender: “Whiskey’s illegal. This is a dry county.”
Buster, glancing toward the other customers: “Well, what are they drinking?”
Bartender: “Whiskey. But they’re outlaws.”
Buster Scruggs: “Looks like when they made this fellar, they forgot to put in the quit.”
Billy Knapp: “Uncertainty, that is appropriate for matters of this world.”
Harry Melling as Harrison, the entertainer with no legs or no arms who serves as a meal ticket in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
Liam Neeson as the Impresario, worried about the diminishing returns brought in by his meal ticket in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
Alice, spotting an Indian on the horizon: “There’s only one savage.”
Mr. Arthur, chuckling: “Yeah, you keep lookin’.”
The horizon fills with Indians.
The Lady: “People are not the same. There are two kinds. Utterly distinct.”
Undertaker: “And what would those be, maddam?”
Traveler #1: “Lucky and unlucky.”
Travler #2: “No, pale and frail. Difficult to knock to the floor. Or wilting.”
The Lady: “Those are not the two kinds. You well know the two kinds.”
Trapper: “One kind. Ain’t no two kinds. Less you mean trapper and townsman.”
The Lady: “Upright and sinning. Don’t be a fool.”
Trapper: “Well, I’m not an enemy of betterment. But I am kept very busy with my traps.”
Grainger Hines as Mr. Arthur, issuing a warning to Alice Longabaugh after spotting Indians on the horizon in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
Bill Heck as Billy Knapp, proposing a solution to Alice Longabaugh’s situation in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
Tyne Daly as The Lady and Chelcie Ross as the Trapper, debating views on humanity in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
Jonjo O’Neill as Thigpen and Saul Rubinek as Rene, transporting a body to Fort Morgan in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
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