Feature

Friday Fiver: The Coolest Coen Characters


17th October 2008

After taking a dark and grizzly turn with No Country For Old Men, the Coens are back in goof mode for Burn After Reading, a tale of two hapless gym employees who get in over their heads when they attempt to blackmail a CIA agent. The film unites a star-studded cast of Coen veterans George Clooney and Frances McDormand with Coen newbies, Brad Pitt, Tilda Swinton and John Malkovich. Regular Coen hallmarks of botched crime, incompetent antiheroes, quips a-plenty and untimely demises can be expected. To celebrate the return of the brothers grim, here are a few of our favourite Coen creations.

5. KARL 'MADMAN' MUNDT
BARTON FINK (1991)
Shut away in his hotel room trying to pen a wrestling movie, Barton Fink is suffering from writer's block. Friendly neighbour and "common man" Charlie Meadows helps Barton out by showing him some wrestling moves and the two strike up a friendship. Little does Barton know that Charlie is in fact Karl "Madman" Mundt, a nut job with a penchant for pyromania. John Goodman gives a great Jekyll and Hyde performance, culminating in a spectacular scene of wrath and hellfire.



4. FREDDY RIEDENSCHNEIDER
THE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE (2001)
Ed and Doris Crane get themselves in a spot of bother when Doris is accused of a murder Ed committed. Being the chivalrous type, Ed decides not to confess to get his wife off the hook, but instead calls in hot-shot lawyer Freddy Riedenschneider. Tony Shalhoub plays sharp-suited, quick thinking Freddy with panache and breathtaking energy. Freddy's charisma and constant stream of lawyerly bullshit fills both the screen and the void left by Billy Bob Thornton's minimalist performance.



3. ANTON CHIGURH
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (2007)
Not since it was perched on the head of Paul McCartney in the 60s has the bowl-cut been so terrifying. The air of menace is palpable every time Javier Bardem appears on screen. Not only is Anton Chigurh evil incarnate, he's also a certified oddball, his weapon du jour being a cattle gun. He takes curious pride in his gruesome line of work, living by his own twisted code of morality and logic.



2. JEFFREY 'THE DUDE' LEBOWSKI
THE BIG LEBOWSKI (1998)
Hardly in need of an introduction, El Duderino has crossed from the realm of movie character into that of legend. He's laid back to the point of being horizontal; rolling a bowling ball is the closest he comes to physical exertion. The Dude floats on a smokey plane of his own. Lebowski Fests are held all over America to celebrate the majesty of His Dudeness. All hail.



1. MARGE GUNDERSON
FARGO (1996)
Sarah Palin eat your heart out: Marge Gunderson is the true gun-toting Queen of the North. Unflappable and heavily pregnant, Marge sets out to solve the case of a triple homicide in her sleepy town. Unperturbed by the sight of Steve Buscemi disappearing into a wood chipper, she sees the case through to its conclusion. It's unusual to see such a favourable portrayal of a cop, but Police Chief Marge Gunderson is kind hearted, amiable and quietly determined, a true hero. Oh yah.



Burn After Reading is released in the UK on Friday. Anna

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