Ethan Coen’s Typical Vibe
Signature vibe

Highest-ranked title
Highest-ranked title
Ethan Coen has 27 titles in the CriticCrunch catalog across a career spanning the 1980s through the 2020s. 2 sit in the Top 1% of all titles we track — including The Big Lebowski.
Recurring themes

No Country for Old Men
2007 · Movie · Director · Writer
Top 1%Paramount+ · Included

The Big Lebowski
1998 · Movie · Writer
Top 1%Netflix · Included

Fargo
1996 · Movie · Writer
Top 2%Max · Included

Unbroken
2014 · Movie · Writer
Top 12%Netflix · Included

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
2018 · Movie · Director · Writer
Top 15%Netflix · Included

True Grit
2010 · Movie · Director · Writer
Top 16%Paramount+ · Included

Llewelyn Moss stumbles upon dead bodies, $2 million and a hoard of heroin in a Texas desert, but methodical killer Anton Chigurh comes looking for it, with local sheriff Ed Tom Bell hot on his trail. The roles of prey and predator blur as the violent pursuit of money and justice collide.
Dir. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen · With Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin

Jeffrey 'The Dude' Lebowski, a Los Angeles slacker who only wants to bowl and drink White Russians, is mistaken for another Jeffrey Lebowski, a wheelchair-bound millionaire, and finds himself dragged into a strange series of events involving nihilists, adult film producers, ferrets, errant toes, and large sums of money.
Dir. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen · With Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore
Jerry, a small-town Minnesota car salesman is bursting at the seams with debt... but he's got a plan. He's going to hire two thugs to kidnap his wife in a scheme to collect a hefty ransom from his wealthy father-in-law. It's going to be a snap and nobody's going to get hurt... until people start dying. Enter Police Chief Marge, a coffee-drinking, parka-wearing - and extremely pregnant - investigator who'll stop at nothing to get her man. And if you think her small-time investigative skills will give the crooks a run for their ransom... you betcha!
Dir. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen · With Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi
During the Cold War, the Soviet Union captures U.S. pilot Francis Gary Powers after shooting down his U-2 spy plane. Sentenced to 10 years in prison, Powers' only hope is New York lawyer James Donovan, recruited by a CIA operative to negotiate his release. Donovan boards a plane to Berlin, hoping to win the young man's freedom through a prisoner exchange. If all goes well, the Russians would get Rudolf Abel, the convicted spy who Donovan defended in court.
Dir. Steven Spielberg · With Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Amy Ryan

A renowned New York playwright is enticed to California to write for the movies and discovers the hellish truth of Hollywood.
Dir. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen · With John Turturro, John Goodman, Judy Davis

In the deep south during the 1930s, three escaped convicts search for hidden treasure while a relentless lawman pursues them.
Dir. Joel Coen · With George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson

A tale of murder, crime and punishment set in the summer of 1949. Ed Crane, a barber in a small California town, is dissatisfied with his life, but his wife Doris' infidelity and a mysterious opportunity presents him with a chance to change it.
Dir. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen · With Billy Bob Thornton, Frances McDormand, Michael Badalucco

A chronicle of the life of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner who was taken prisoner by Japanese forces during World War II.
Dir. Angelina Jolie · With Jack O'Connell, Alex Russell, Domhnall Gleeson

Set in 1929, a political boss and his advisor have a parting of the ways when they both fall for the same woman.
Dir. Joel Coen · With Gabriel Byrne, Marcia Gay Harden, John Turturro

Vignettes weaving together the stories of six individuals in the old West at the end of the Civil War. Following the tales of a sharp-shooting songster, a wannabe bank robber, two weary traveling performers, a lone gold prospector, a woman traveling the West to an uncertain future, and a motley crew of strangers undertaking a carriage ride.
Dir. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen · With Tim Blake Nelson, Willie Watson, Clancy Brown

When a childless couple—an ex-con and an ex-cop—take one of a wealthy family’s quintuplets to raise as their own, their lives grow more complicated than anticipated.
Dir. Joel Coen · With Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter, Trey Wilson

Following the murder of her father by a hired hand, a 14-year-old farm girl sets out to capture the killer. To aid her, she hires the toughest U.S. Marshal she can find—a man with 'true grit'—Reuben J. 'Rooster' Cogburn.
Dir. Ethan Coen, Joel Coen · With Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, Matt Damon

A naive business graduate is installed as president of a manufacturing company as part of a stock scam.
Dir. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen · With Tim Robbins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Paul Newman
The owner of a seedy small-town Texas bar discovers that one of his employees is having an affair with his wife. A chaotic chain of misunderstandings, lies and mischief ensues after he devises a plot to have them murdered.
Dir. Joel Coen · With John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya

In Greenwich Village in the early 1960s, gifted but volatile folk musician Llewyn Davis struggles with money, relationships, and his uncertain future.
Dir. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen · With Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake

When a disc containing memoirs of a former CIA analyst falls into the hands of gym employees, Linda and Chad, they see a chance to make enough money for Linda to have life-changing cosmetic surgery. Predictably, events whirl out of control for the duo, and those in their orbit.
Dir. Ethan Coen, Joel Coen · With George Clooney, Frances McDormand, Brad Pitt

It is 1967, and Larry Gopnik, a physics professor at a quiet Midwestern university, has just been informed by his wife Judith that she is leaving him. She has fallen in love with one of his more pompous acquaintances Sy Ableman.
Dir. Ethan Coen, Joel Coen · With Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Fred Melamed

Commissioned to mark the 60th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival, "To Each His Own Cinema" brought together 33 of the world's pre-eminent filmmakers to produce short pieces exploring the multifarious facets of cinema and their perspective on the state of their chosen artform in the early 21st century.
Dir. Michael Cimino, Luc Dardenne, Atom Egoyan, Chen Kaige, Manoel de Oliveira, Bille August, Andrei Konchalovsky, Claude Lelouch, Walter Salles, Tsai Ming-liang, Theo Angelopoulos, Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Olivier Assayas, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Takeshi Kitano, Roman Polanski, Gus Van Sant, Abbas Kiarostami, David Cronenberg, David Lynch, Jane Campion, Raymond Depardon, Amos Gitai, Nanni Moretti, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Elia Suleiman, Aki Kaurismäki, Raúl Ruiz, Lars von Trier, Wong Kar-Wai, Ken Loach, Wim Wenders, Youssef Chahine, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Zhang Yimou · With Golshifteh Farahani, Taraneh Alidoosti, Pegah Ahangarani

Olivier Assayas, Gus Van Sant, Wes Craven and Alfonso Cuaron are among the 20 distinguished directors who contribute to this collection of 18 stories, each exploring a different aspect of Parisian life. The colourful characters in this drama include a pair of mimes, a husband trying to choose between his wife and his lover, and a married man who turns to a prostitute for advice.
Dir. Olivier Assayas, Frédéric Auburtin, Gurinder Chadha, Sylvain Chomet, Isabel Coixet, Wes Craven, Alfonso Cuarón, Gérard Depardieu, Christopher Doyle, Richard LaGravenese, Vincenzo Natali, Alexander Payne, Walter Salles, Oliver Schmitz, Nobuhiro Suwa, Daniela Thomas, Tom Tykwer, Gus Van Sant, Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, Bruno Podalydès · With Steve Buscemi, Natalie Portman, Willem Dafoe

An eccentric, if not charming Southern professor and his crew pose as a band in order to rob a casino, all under the nose of his unsuspecting landlord – a sharp old woman.
Dir. Ethan Coen, Joel Coen · With Tom Hanks, Irma P. Hall, Marlon Wayans
In the quiet family town of Suburbicon during the 1950s, the best and worst of humanity is hilariously reflected through the deeds of seemingly ordinary people. When a home invasion turns deadly, a picture-perfect family turns to blackmail, revenge and murder.
Dir. George Clooney · With Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, Noah Jupe

A revenge-seeking gold digger marries a womanizing Beverly Hills lawyer with the intention of making a killing in the divorce.
Dir. Joel Coen · With George Clooney, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Geoffrey Rush

When a Hollywood star mysteriously disappears in the middle of filming, the studio sends their fixer to get him back.
Dir. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen · With Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich
A pair of whacked-out cartoon-like exterminator/hitmen kill the owner of a burglar-alarm company, and stalk the partner who hired them, his wife, and a nerd framed for the murder, who tells the story in flashback from the electric chair.
Dir. Sam Raimi · With Reed Birney, Louise Lasser, Sheree J. Wilson

Honey O'Donahue, a small-town private investigator, delves into a series of strange deaths tied to a mysterious church.
Dir. Ethan Coen · With Margaret Qualley, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Evans

Jamie, an uninhibited free spirit bemoaning yet another breakup with a girlfriend, and her demure friend Marian desperately needs to loosen up. In search of a fresh start, the two embark on an impromptu road trip to Tallahassee, but things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals along the way.
Dir. Ethan Coen · With Margaret Qualley, Geraldine Viswanathan, Beanie Feldstein

An art curator decides to seek revenge on his abusive boss by conning him into buying a fake Monet, but his plan requires the help of an eccentric and unpredictable Texas rodeo queen.
Dir. Michael Hoffman · With Colin Firth, Cameron Diaz, Alan Rickman
Top Collaborators
Directors with 2+ shared titles, ranked by frequency