text: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018) – Film Review | Joe Baker – Film Reviews
  6th Feb 2019 15th Feb 2021 / Joe Baker Reviews
  The western genre used to be extremely popular back in the golden age of Hollywood, but in recent years however, westerns have mostly died-off, as aside from a few honourable mentions such as: 'True Grit,' 'The Sisters Brothers' and 'Django Unchained.' The western genre as a whole has run mostly dry, until now that is. As iconic directors Joel Coen and Ethan Coen (The Big Lebowski, Fargo, No Country for Old Men) return to the silver screen for this brilliant western anthology.
  Throughout the runtime, the cinematography by Bruno Delbonnel is almost flawless, as the film utilizes a variety of beautiful shots which perfectly capture the visual appeal of classic westerns. The original score by Carter Burwell is also great, as the soundtrack uses slow guitar stings and an enormous list of classic country songs to build-up atmosphere, with the best of these definitely being: 'When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings.'
  One aspect of the film I absolutely adore is the Coen's usual style of writing, as every character throughout the film is given plenty of comedic moments and memorable lines, which really helped make many of the characters with slightly-less development more likeable. Another element that also really drew my attention during my first viewing was the incredible sets and costumes the film had on full-display, as considering the locations/costumes are some of the main factors of engaging the audience into the story and it's time-period. It was clear they were pulling-out all the stops. As every location always felt very real and lived-in, with the character's clothes being no different.
  'The Ballad of Buster Scruggs' proves once again that westerns are far from gone when it comes to film, as the Coen Brothers once again take the audience for a trip into the wild west with complete success. As this anthology is just as hilarious as it is visually impressive and well-acted, regardless of whether or not the stories are quite on the same level. Final Rating: low 8/10.
  Film, Film Blog, Film Review, Film Reviews, Films, Genre: Anthology, Genre: Comedy, Genre: Dark Comedy, Genre: Drama, Genre: Western, Rating: 8/10, Release Year: 2018, Review, Reviews, Streaming Service: Netflix, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs