The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Beautifully observed vignettes which give believable insights into the lives of early settlers to the Wild West. Ironic, tragic and sometimes comic, each one is entertaining in its own way and serves as a reminder of the harshness of the time.

I'm not really sure were I stand with this film, it started off really well, but just went down hill. I liked a couple of the stories, but some are just really weird. The cinematography is excellent. I stuck with it till the very end but was very close to switching it off but something just kept me watching it.

I would say its worth giving it ago, but don't be surprised if you don't like it.

Finally a movie that feels genuine start to finish and a movie that entertains. You are never sure where it starts and where it will end,all the characters immediately feel real without wasting any time. And perhaps most importantly, this is a movie that does not insult your intelligence like almost all other movies do.

The first 17 minutes were the highlight, and it went downhill from there. That first segment, "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs", was excellent. I could watch an entire movie based on that character, played extremely well by Tim Blake Nelson. It was interesting and funny.

"Near Algodones" kept me interested, and I enjoyed the characters, but there was no take away, so it kind of fell flat.

"Meal Ticket" was worthless and should have been cut altogether. It was extremely boring and sad.

"All Gold Canyon" and "The Gal Who Got Rattled" were enjoyable and interesting. Good characters and beautiful cinematography. Both segments kept my interest.

"The Mortal Remains" had some interesting dialogue but it fell off and didn't seem to have a point.

So one segment was fantastic, three others were pretty good, and two were completely forgettable. A mixed bag, but I generously give it a 6/10.

I was fortunate enough to see this at the LFF with the Coen brothers present. During their introduction they mentioned how they wrote each chapter as a series of shorts over 25 years, and it certainly felt like this both in good ways and bad. Each story was completely different from the one either side of it and none were short of originality. Stories unfolded in the way only a Coen brother's film could - a style that I have always admired.

What was slightly disappointing was its lack of continuity. Each of the stories are completely contained and the final short was one of the most disappointing for me ending in quite an anticlimax. I understand these shorts are independent of one another but had they intersected in some way I think there could have been a much more satisfying conclusion. But the subversion of that expectation I also admire, my brain was just full of the interesting situations that could have unfolded had these characters come into contact with each other - as per a Tarantino film. It could also have ended with a different short as the 5th story for me (and the gold panning segment) was arguably the best.

Aside from the story itself the film has great visuals, some amazing one liners and incredible acting performances - especially considering the lengths actors went to in order to get into character for just a 20 minutes segment of a film. Overall expect 6 Coen brothers shorts sewn together with the thinest fabric imaginable and a time at the cinema like you haven't had all year.