The Coen Brothers are on fire because of their critically successful film, ‘No Country For Old Men.’ After they their next project, ‘The Serious Man,’ they have decided to adapt yet another award winning author’s novel called ‘Yiddish Policemen’s Union.’
Comingsoon.net gives us this synopsis:
Chabon sets up a contemporary scenario where Jewish settlers are about to be displaced by U.S. government’s plans to turn the frozen locale of Sitka, Alaska, over to Alaskan natives. Against this backdrop is a noir-style murder mystery in which a rogue cop investigates the killing of a heroin-addicted chess prodigy who might be the messiah.
Am I excited about this news? Hmm….it’s hard to say. Sure, this sounds like a great novel to adapt, and the Coen Brothers are a very talented filmmaking team. I mean, this is the team that brought ‘Fargo,’ ‘The Big Lebowski,’ ‘Barton Fink,’ and ‘O Brother Where Art Thou?’ to the big screen. However, this is also the same team that brought ‘The Hudsucker Proxy,’ ‘Intolerable Cruelty,’ and ‘The LadyKillers’ to the big screen as well. (Yeesh!)
As much as I love some of their work, I have to admit they do release a lot of “hit or miss” films. I find that because of ‘No Country For Old Men,’ no one really wants to admit this fact. Hopefully they can break this pattern with their upcoming projects. :)
I agree with you Jane, but that project has been in development for years, so let’s hope this project will drum up interest in “Kavalier and Clay.” I do love that book. “Yiddish Policeman” was good and I’ll be glad to see what the Coens do with it.
If one of Chabon’s books is going to be making it to the big screen, I’d rreally like for it to be “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay”. I don’t care how good the Coen bros are, a lot of a project’s sucess stems from the source material and in this case, “Yiddish Policeman” just doesn’t come close to being as good as Kavalier & Clay.
If you haven’t read it, do so & let me know what you think.
“The Coen Brothers are on fire”
You’ve got that right!
Serena, I think you would be hard pressed to fnd any director with a few films under his/her belt that did not have at least one “miss,” wouldn’t you agree? Yes past performance does not guarantee future results, but it does increase the probability doesn’t it?
And one last critique…you did not mention Raising Arizona and Blood Simple. I think this pair has had more “hits” than “misses.”
I said they have earned our good will and faith in them as filmmakers, not that it “proved their projects will be great” There is a distinction. I just feel like the have demonstrated that they still have great film making in them and your doubts about them are perhaps misplaced.
It just seems to me that when they’re widely regarded as being in the top echelon of film makers of all time, with half a dozen films that are, or border on classic status, they deserve better than mere qualified curiosity about their next project.
Yes the film could absolutely suck, I just think they’ve earned my advance enthusiasm.
Wow, I think this is great news. I finished the book a little while ago and kept thinking, this would be a cool movie, but hard to pull off. I think they’re the right people for this, I think it’ll be good.
Well Soooooooorrrrrrrrrrrry…didn’t know I was dealing with a “Sam Raimi” fan. :P lol
Hey now! No slaggin’ the PROXY!
@sfsilver,
Your comment just proved my point. Yes, they are very talented directors and they deserve the attention they’re getting. However, when you are an A-list director, your “missteps” or failures are far more apparent to the public eye. Sure, some of their commercial and critical failures were above average, (well that excludes The Ladykillers…had to turn that one off) but it doesn’t matter when you have that high of a status as well respected directors. It’s like a gifted student getting an above average grade….sure it was a good grade….but because the teacher knows that student can do more, they push them instead of rewarding them.
‘No Country For Old Men’ did NOT prove all their upcoming projects will be great. We have to wait and see…and like I said, I hope they break that “hit and miss” curse.
The three films you list as the failures of the Coen catalog are infinitely better films than much crap that is released each year. I always find it funny that people want to beat up Directors over a couple films that didn’t completely work when their “hits” are among the best films ever made. In the case of the Coens we’re talking about several brilliant and much loved films, not just one or two random great films. They’ve proven with “No Country for Old Men” that the minor missteps in their career are the exception rather than the rule, and that they are as strong as they have ever been.
I think they’ve more than earned our good will and faith in them as film makers and I for one am excited for this adaptation.