Editing Coen brothers (section)

=== 1990s ===
''[[Miller's Crossing]]'' (1990) is a [[gangster film]] inspired by [[Dashiell Hammett]]'s ''[[Red Harvest]]'' (1929) and ''[[The Glass Key]]'' (1931). It stars [[Gabriel Byrne]] as Irish mobster Tom Reagan and features [[Albert Finney]], [[Marcia Gay Harden]], [[Steve Buscemi]], [[Jon Polito]] and [[John Turturro]]. The film was released almost simultaneously with ''[[Goodfellas]]'' and was not a commercial success, but received positive reviews. [[Christopher Orr (film critic)|Christopher Orr]] calls it "a distillation of all the tropes and themes and moods of the classic gangster film."  It was the Coens' first collaboration with production designer [[Dennis Gassner]].<ref>{{cite news| author=[[Christopher Orr (film critic)|Christopher Orr]]| title=30 Years of Coens: ''Miller's Crossing''| date=September 10, 2014| work=[[The Atlantic]]|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/09/30-years-of-coens-millers-crossing/379895/}}</ref>

They followed it with ''[[Barton Fink]]'' (1991); set in 1941, it follows a New York playwright, the eponymous Fink (Turturro), who moves to [[Los Angeles]] to write a [[B-picture]] for a venal movie mogul ([[Michael Lerner (actor)|Michael Lerner]]). Fink is modeled on playwright [[Clifford Odets]], and the character W.P. Mayhew ([[John Mahoney]]) is based on [[William Faulkner]]. ''Barton Fink'' was a critical success, earning Oscar nominations and winning Best Director, Best Actor and {{Lang|fr|[[Palme d'Or]]|italic=no}} at the [[1991 Cannes Film Festival]].<ref name="festival-cannes.com Barton Fink">{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/79/year/1991.html |title=Festival de Cannes: Barton Fink |work=Festival de Cannes |access-date=August 9, 2009|publisher=festival-cannes.com}}</ref> It was their first film with cinematographer [[Roger Deakins]], a key collaborator for the next 25 years.<ref>{{cite news| author=Christopher Orr| date=September 11, 2014| work=[[The Atlantic]]| title=30 Years of Coens: ''Barton Fink''| url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/09/30-years-of-coens-barton-fink/379990/}}</ref>

''[[The Hudsucker Proxy]]'' (1994) is an homage to the [[screwball comedies]] of [[Frank Capra]] and [[Howard Hawks]]. Co-written with Raimi, the film follows a mailroom clerk ([[Tim Robbins]]) who is promoted to president of the Hudsucker corporation by a cynical director ([[Paul Newman]]) in a scheme to devalue the company's stock; a fast-talking newspaperwoman ([[Jennifer Jason Leigh]]) tries to scoop the story. Critics praised the production design but criticized the tone. It was a [[box office bomb]] ($30 million budget, $3 million gross in the US).<ref>{{cite news| author=[[Christopher Orr (film critic)|Christopher Orr]]| title=30 Years of Coens: ''The Hudsucker Proxy''| date=September 12, 2014| work=[[The Atlantic]]| url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/09/30-years-of-coens-the-hudsucker-proxy/380068/}}</ref>

The brothers bounced back with the "homespun murder story" ''[[Fargo (1996 film)|Fargo]]'' (1996), set in their home state of [[Minnesota]]. In it, car salesman Jerry Lundegaard ([[William H. Macy]]), who has serious financial problems, has his wife kidnapped so that his wealthy father-in-law ([[Harve Presnell]]) will pay the ransom, which he plans to split with the kidnappers (Buscemi and [[Peter Stormare]]). Complications ensue, and local cop [[Marge Gunderson (Fargo character)|Marge Gunderson]] (McDormand) starts to investigate. Produced on a small budget of $7 million, ''Fargo'' was a critical and commercial success, with particular praise for its dialogue and McDormand's performance. The film received several awards, including a [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts|BAFTA]] award and [[Prix de la mise en scène|Cannes]] award for direction, and two [[Academy Awards|Oscars]]: a [[Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay|Best Original Screenplay]] and a [[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress Oscar]] for McDormand.<ref name="festival-cannes.com Fargo">{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/4685/year/1996.html |title=Festival de Cannes: Fargo |work=Festival de Cannes |access-date=January 14, 2016| publisher= festival-cannes.com}}</ref><ref name="fargo-oscars">{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/00/05/14/specials/ondaatje-oscar.html |title='English Patient' Dominates Oscars With Nine, Including Best Picture |access-date=January 14, 2016|work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> [[Roger Ebert]] wrote that "it rotates its story through satire, comedy, suspense, and violence, until it emerges as one of the best films I've ever seen. To watch it is to experience steadily mounting delight, as you realize the filmmakers have taken enormous risks, gotten away with them, and have made a movie that is completely original, and as familiar as an old shoe – or a rubber-soled hunting boot from Land's End, more likely."<ref>{{cite news| author=[[Roger Ebert]]| title=Fargo| date=March 8, 1996| work=[[Chicago Sun Times]]| url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/fargo-1996}}</ref>

''[[The Big Lebowski]]'' (1998) is a [[crime comedy]] about Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski ([[Jeff Bridges]]), a Los Angeles slacker who is involved in a kidnapping case after being mistaken for a millionaire of the same name ([[David Huddleston]].)<ref>{{cite magazine| url = https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/big-lebowski| title = The Big Lebowski{{!}}The New Yorker| magazine = [[The New Yorker]]}}</ref> It features [[Philip Seymour Hoffman]] as Lebowski's flunky, Goodman and Buscemi as The Dude's [[bowling]] buddies and [[Julianne Moore]] as his "special lady friend". It was influenced by [[Raymond Chandler]]'s ''[[The Big Sleep]]'' (1939) and [[Robert Altman]]'s [[The Long Goodbye (1973 film)|''The Long Goodbye'']].<ref name=OrrLebowski>{{cite news| author=[[Christopher Orr (film critic)|Christopher Orr]]| title=30 Years of Coens: ''The Big Lebowski''| date=September 16, 2014| work=[[The Atlantic]]| url= https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/09/30-years-of-coens-the-big-lebowski/380220/}}</ref> It has become a [[cult classic]].<ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-SEB-19463| title = "The Big Lebowski" + Shakespeare = "Two Gentlemen of Lebowski" – WSJ|newspaper = Wall Street Journal|date = January 8, 2010|last1 = Kung|first1 = Michelle}}</ref> An annual festival, [[Lebowski Fest]], began in 2002, and many adhere to the philosophy of "[[Dudeism]]".<ref>{{cite web|last=Ehrlich|first=Richard|title=The man who founded a religion based on 'The Big Lebowski'|url=http://www.cnngo.com/bangkok/life/doctrine-chiang-mais-church-latter-day-dude-explained-206793|publisher=[[CNN]]|access-date=January 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120405065606/http://www.cnngo.com/bangkok/life/doctrine-chiang-mais-church-latter-day-dude-explained-206793|archive-date=April 5, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' ranked it 8th on their Funniest Movies of the Past 25 Years list in 2008.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=The Comedy 25: The Funniest Movies of the Past 25 Years|url=https://www.ew.com/gallery/comedy-25-funniest-movies-past-25-years|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|access-date=January 14, 2016}}</ref> It was the first collaboration between the Coens and [[T Bone Burnett]], credited as "Music Archivist".<ref name=OrrLebowski/>