The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)

The Coen Bros. love making westerns. From the modern day takes like No Country for Old Men to overt tributes like the 2010 remake of True Grit. At this late stage, why not just make their own old fashioned westerns? That's essentially what The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is. An Anthology of ideas that Joel and Ethan conjured up to be attributed to the western genre of their imaginations. But one begins to wonder if this film would have worked better as a digital streaming miniseries? Instead, we have a disjointed standalone film that wonders in some sections and bores in others. The titular short story and "All Gold Canyon" are by far and away the standouts of this film. Buster Scruggs is the lone gunslinger of our dreams, and provides one of the funniest short films I've ever seen. All Gold Canyon is a tremendously crafted, wonderfully told little vignette about prospectors during the gold rush. But when Buster Scrugg's momentum peters out, the results are awkward.