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6[[quoteright:318:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/coen_brothers.jpg]]
7[[caption-width-right:318:Serious men.[[note]]Ethan on the left, Joel on the right[[/note]]]]
8
9Joel David Coen (born November 29, 1954) and Ethan Jesse Coen (born September 21, 1957), collectively known as the Coen Brothers, are filmmakers who have been marching to the beat of their own drum and thumbing their noses at traditional genre boundaries since 1984. Bouncing from FilmNoir to screwball comedy, from quirky indies to big-budget studio pieces, they function as a two-person writer-director-producer-editor SiblingTeam.
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11The brothers are known for their meticulous planning, not least the incredibly detailed storyboards they create for every shot of every film. This saves time during production (as they can show their cinematographer exactly what they want done) and makes the films look unbelievably cool.
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13Joel has been married to actress Creator/FrancesMcDormand -- whom he met on the set of their first film ''Film/BloodSimple'' -- since 1984. She's appeared in seven of their films, including ''Film/{{Fargo}}'', for which she won the [[MediaNotes/AcademyAwardForBestActressInALeadingRole Academy Award for Best Actress]]. She said of the event, "After all these years sleeping with the director, it's finally paid off." Ethan has been married to Tricia Cooke, who worked as an editor on several of the brothers' films, since 1990.
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15Most of their films are scored by Carter Burwell, and all of their films are edited by Roderick Jaynes. Jaynes doesn't exist; the "Roderick Jaynes" name is actually a pseudonym for the brothers themselves. Yeah, they like to have creative control on their films.
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17Among their numerous award wins, the brothers are the second of three duos in history to win the [[MediaNotes/AcademyAwardForBestDirecting Academy Award for Best Director]][[note]]after Creator/RobertWise & Jerome Robbins for ''Film/WestSideStory1961'', and ahead of [[Creator/TheDaniels Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert]] for ''Film/EverythingEverywhereAllAtOnce''[[/note]], and the only duo to come from the same family.
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19Vote for your favourite Coen Brothers film [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php/Sandbox/BestFilmCoenBrothers here!]]
20
21-----
22!!Films written and directed by the Coens:
23[[index]]
24* ''Film/BloodSimple'' (1984)
25* ''Film/RaisingArizona'' (1987)
26* ''Film/MillersCrossing'' (1990)
27* ''Film/BartonFink'' (1991)
28* ''Film/TheHudsuckerProxy'' (1994)
29* ''Film/{{Fargo}}'' (1996)
30* ''Film/TheBigLebowski'' (1998)
31* ''Film/OBrotherWhereArtThou'' (2000)
32* ''[[Film/TheManWhoWasntThere2001 The Man Who Wasn't There]]'' (2001)
33* ''Film/IntolerableCruelty'' (2003)
34* ''Film/{{The Ladykillers|2004}}'' (2004)
35* ''Film/NoCountryForOldMen'' (2007)
36* ''Film/BurnAfterReading'' (2008)
37* ''Film/ASeriousMan'' (2009)
38* ''Film/TrueGrit'' (2010)
39* ''Film/InsideLlewynDavis'' (2013)
40* ''Film/HailCaesar'' (2016)
41* ''Film/TheBalladOfBusterScruggs'' (2018)
42* ''Film/TheTragedyOfMacbeth'' (2021)[[note]]The first movie directed solely by Joel[[/note]]
43* ''Music/JerryLeeLewis: Trouble in Mind'' (2022)[[note]]Documentary, and the first movie directed solely by Ethan[[/note]]
44* ''Film/DriveAwayDolls'' (2024)[[note]]first feature directed solely by Ethan[[/note]]
45[[/index]]
46
47!!The Coen Brothers' films provide examples of:
48%%As with all Creator/ pages, trivia tropes about the creator specifically are to be posted here, not a Trivia/ page, as they technically are InUniverse in the case of the person's career.
49%%However: As with all Creator/ pages, items that could go on a specific work's trivia page go there, not here.
50* AdaptationDistillation: ''Film/NoCountryForOldMen'', and widely regarded as superior because of it.
51* AllStarCast: Almost all their films have very star studded casts, owing both to their acclaim and success and the fact that they are known as very good to work with, to the point that [[DoingItForTheArt many major stars are happy to take substantial pay cuts just to appear in their films.]]
52* TheAntiNihilist: The most readily apparent philosophy underlying all of their works, though they do on occasion toy with spirituality, fate, and the possible existence of God.
53* AssociatedComposer: Music/CarterBurwell has scored every one of their films.
54* AttentionDeficitCreatorDisorder: They have admitted to often starting new projects while still in the middle of other ones. For example, ''Film/BartonFink'' was written while they were stuck writing ''Film/MillersCrossing''.
55* AuteurLicense: They've actually managed to have final cut on every film they've made.
56* BeingEvilSucks: Bad guys in their works don't have it much easier than the heroes, usually gaining nothing or ending up dead or in jail. Even [[Film/NOCountryForOldMen Anton Chigurh]], who otherwise gets away with his crimes, is given a harsh reminder of his own humanity by nearly dying in a car accident towards the end.
57* BlackComedy: We're talking black-hole, no-light-escaping black comedy. And they are masters of it.
58* {{Blackmail}}:
59** ''Blood Simple'', ''Raising Arizona'', ''Miller's Crossing'', ''The Man Who Wasn't There'', ''Burn After Reading'', ''A Serious Man''
60** Subverted in ''Film/TheBigLebowski'': [[spoiler: They never had the fucking girl]].
61* BittersweetEnding: The best-case scenario for the protagonists of their films is that they do triumph over the bad guys or achieve their goals but at a heavy cost.
62* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Many of their villainous characters have a code. It's just usually one completely incomprehensible to anyone but them.
63* BrainlessBeauty: They often cast very good-looking actors to play very stupid people.
64* BrokenRecord: Another trademark. Many of their films feature characters repeating the same line of dialogue many times in a row.
65* ButtMonkey: Characters in their films don't tend to have it easy, no matter how nice or good they are.
66* CallBack: The Coens often reference past films in their works.
67** The mysterious blue Volkswagen in ''Film/BloodSimple'' returns fourteen years later in ''Film/TheBigLebowski.''
68** In the same film, Walter's "This is what happens, Larry!" rant echoes [[Film/BartonFink "I will show you the life of the mind!"]].
69** Creator/JohnGoodman's voice-only cameo in ''Film/TheHudsuckerProxy'' is credited as [[Film/BartonFink "Karl Mundt."]]
70** The company that HI works for in ''Raising Arizona'' is Hudsucker Industries.
71** The law firm Tuckman Marsh is brought up in both ''Burn After Reading'' and ''A Serious Man''.
72** In ''Raising Arizona'' Gale Snoats uses Fop pomade. In ''O' Brother, Where Art Thou?'' when Ulysses stops to try and pick up his pomade (Dapper Dan) the store owner tells him that they don't have Dapper Dan, but they have Fop.
73* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: They're notorious for their Old Testament morality, never letting characters get away with transgressions, no matter how minor or how sympathetic they otherwise might be, and often going [[DisproportionateRetribution being much harsher than the sins merit.]] Even villains don't usually get away or at least not scot free.
74* CareerResurrection:
75** ''Film/TheHudsuckerProxy'' very nearly killed their careers entirely. In response, they made ''Film/{{Fargo}}'', which not only revived their momentum completely but was nominated for several Oscars (including Best Picture) and winning for Best Original Screenplay.
76** This happened again in the 2000s. After the runaway success of ''Film/OBrotherWhereArtThou,'' they followed it up with the commercially unsuccessful ''Film/TheManWhoWasntThere2001,'' the less distinctive ''Film/IntolerableCruelty,'' and the coolly received ''Film/TheLadykillers2004.'' Critics had begun to believe that the brothers had lost their touch and they didn't make another film until three years later. That movie? ''Film/NoCountryForOldMen,'' which won the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.
77* CopiouslyCreditedCreator: Serve as writer-producer-director-editors on nearly all their films.
78* CrapsackWorld: Pretty much every movie they make.
79* CreatorCouple: Joel Coen and Frances [=McDormand=]. She was the star of their first movie and has appeared in at least minor roles in many of their films (not to mention main roles like in ''Fargo'').
80* DidntThinkThisThrough: A recurring element in their films are people who act without much thought for the consequences and end making things much worse for themselves.
81* DownerEnding: Several of their films feature these.
82* DreamSequence: ''Blood Simple.'', ''Raising Arizona'', ''Miller's Crossing'', ''The Hudsucker Proxy'', ''The Big Lebowski'', ''The Man Who Wasn't There'', ''A Serious Man''.
83* DVDCommentary: ''Film/TheManWhoWasntThere2001'' is their only film to contain a serious one. The 20th-anniversary re-release of ''Film/BloodSimple'' has a parody commentary by a spokesperson for "[[RunningGag Forever Young Films]]".
84* {{Eagleland}}: Each of their movies so far is about a particular time and place in America, or in some respects UsefulNotes/TheAmericanDream.
85* EasterEgg: They occasionally hide jokes in the credits; for example, ''Film/NoCountryForOldMen'' has a credit for "the one right tool" (referencing a line from one of Chigurh's {{Hannibal Lecture}}s during the film), and ''Film/ASeriousMan'' has a disclaimer at the end of the credits assuring the audience that "No Jews were harmed during the making of this film.", ''Film/TrueGrit'' credits Ethan Coen's son Buster as "Mr. Damon's Abs Double" and ''Film/BurnAfterReading'' credits "The Walrus".
86* ExecutiveMeddling: The brothers were originally only supposed to direct ''Film/IntolerableCruelty''. When they were assigned the screenplay, they were told they could do anything they wanted as long as Creator/GeorgeClooney and Creator/CatherineZetaJones's characters ended up together, which is actually not unreasonable for a romantic comedy.
87* FauxAffablyEvil: If a truly evil villain in a Coen Brothers film possesses any good manners or charm, it's a complete facade or exists just to further underline how depraved, sadistic and monstrous they truly are.
88* FilmNoir: ''Blood Simple'', ''Miller's Crossing'', ''The Big Lebowski'', and ''The Man Who Wasn't There'' are based on the classic potboilers of Creator/DashiellHammett, Hammett again, Creator/RaymondChandler, and Creator/JamesMCain, respectively.
89* GenreBusting: Several of their films are simply indescribable in terms of genre. They don't just bend genres, but dissect 'em.
90** ''The Big Lebowski'' is arguably the most prominent example in all of film. Just about every character seems to belong to a completely different genre, and none of them seem to [[WrongGenreSavvy understand]] which one they're in currently. It's part stoner film, part film noir, part political satire, part musical, and the narrator is convinced that it's a western.
91** ''Barton Fink'' is a close successor, as it has been variously described as a Hollywood satire, a crime drama, a mystery, a dark comedy, a buddy film, a FilmNoir, and a horror film.
92** ''No Country For Old Men'' is essentially three different genres for the three protagonists: Llewellyn Moss is the AntiHero of a gritty crime drama, Ed Bell is in a modern Western, and Anton Chigurh is the unstoppable killer of a SlasherMovie.
93** ''The Ballad of Buster Scruggs'' is a Western anthology, but each of the different segments has a completely different tone and mood. The titular segment is a ([[BlackComedy very dark]]) "singing cowboy" musical, "Near Algodones" is familiar Coen crime-story territory about a bank robber whose day rapidly goes awry, "The Gal Who got Rattled" is a drama played fairly straight, and so on.
94* {{Greed}}: A major part of their work concerns the destruction money can do to a person's life(s).
95* HanlonsRazor: One of the main themes in all their films is human stupidity and its horrible consequences.
96* HeAlsoDid: Occasionally, they'll write or rewrite screenplays for somebody else to direct, such as ''Crimewave'', the recent remake of ''Gambit'', Creator/AngelinaJolie's ''Film/{{Unbroken}}'', and Creator/StevenSpielberg's ''Bridge of Spies''.
97* HumansAreFlawed: Certainly not cynical about human nature but they also don’t think we’re the greatest thing ever.
98* IHaveYourWife:
99** Subverted in ''Raising Arizona'' (I have your baby, simply because I want a baby.), ''Fargo'' (I have your wife, just like we planned.), and ''The Big Lebowski'' ([[spoiler:I know your wife's missing and I'm strapped for cash.]])
100** Played straight in ''Film/NoCountryForOldMen'' ([[spoiler:I'm planning on murdering your wife after you're dead because {{I gave my word}} ]].)
101** Played with twice in ''Film/BurnAfterReading'': Chad and Linda try to pull this on Osbourne, whereupon HilarityEnsues. Later, Linda tries to invoke this with the Russians to secure Chad's release [[spoiler:not realizing that he's already been killed by Harry.]]
102* ImplacableMan: Most of the criminal characters in their stories are [[StupidCrooks foolish and incompent morons]], so by contrast, there's often one more dangerous and relentless antagonist in their stories. These vary from killers with [[BlueAndOrangeMorality an almost incomprehensible worldview]] through [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane ambiguously supernatural or uncanny]] characters all the way up to [[SatanicArchetype Satanic archetypes]]. [[Film/NoCountryForOldMen Anton Chigurh]], [[Film/{{Fargo}} Gaear Grimsurd]], [[Film/RaisingArizona Leonard Smalls]], [[Film/BloodSimple Loren Visser]], [[Film/OBrotherWhereArtThou the Warden]], [[spoiler: [[Film/BartonFink Charlie Mundt]]]] all count. [[Film/TheBalladOfBusterScruggs Buster Scruggs]] is an interesting variant who's an [[AffablyEvil affable Singing Cowboy]] and remorseless killer, and the final segment, "The Mortal Remains", features two ambiguously supernatural bounty hunters.
103* InvisibleAdvertising: Their early film ''Crimewave'', written by them but directed by Creator/SamRaimi of ''Franchise/EvilDead'' and ''Spider-Man'' fame.
104* LighterAndSofter: A couple of his films (Like ''Film/TheHudsuckerProxy'', ''Film/RaisingArizona'', ''Film/IntolerableCruelty'' and ''Film/DriveAwayDolls'') have either happy or [[BitterSweetEnding bittersweet]] endings.
105* {{Lying Creator}}s: They have been known to make absurd and at times blatantly untrue statements about their own films.
106** ''Fargo'' is prefaced by the claim that the events portrayed actually happened. This is untrue, though it was inspired by the true story of a man who disposed of his wife in a wood chipper.
107** They liked to pretend that "Roderick Jaynes," the pseudonym they use as an editing team, is a real person.
108* KnightOfCerebus: A few of their films have serious characters who are played seriously and bring drama to otherwise light-hearted films. Gaear Grimsrud from ''Film/{{Fargo}}'' and Leonard Smalls from ''Film/RaisingArizona'' are perfect examples.
109* MoodWhiplash: Both in their films and their career in general.
110* MotorMouth: Many of their characters have this trait.
111* TheMuse: Frances [=McDormand=] to Joel seems to have elements of this.
112* {{Narrator}}: Visser in ''Blood Simple.'', Hi in ''Raising Arizona'', Moses in ''The Hudsucker Proxy'', The Stranger in ''The Big Lebowski'', Ed in ''The Man Who Wasn't There'', Bell in ''No Country for Old Men'', 40-Year-Old Mattie in ''Film/TrueGrit''.
113* NewOldWest: ''Film/BloodSimple, Film/RaisingArizona'', and ''Film/NoCountryForOldMen''. ''Film/TheBigLebowski'' is mistaken for one by the narrator.
114* {{Nice Guy}}s: In addition to their talent, they are known for being very pleasant and good to work with, which is one of the reasons why their films are able to retain so many cast and crew members.
115* NoEnding: Another one of their favorite tropes, used in several films.
116* PeriodPiece: All of their films except ''Film/BloodSimple'', ''Film/RaisingArizona'', ''Film/IntolerableCruelty'', ''Film/TheLadykillers2004'' and ''Film/BurnAfterReading'' are set in the past, usually between the 40s and 60s, although [[TwentyMinutesIntoThePast some are set in the relatively recent past]] (''Film/{{Fargo}}'' (1996) is set in 1987 and ''Film/TheBigLebowski'' (1998) is set in 1991.)
117* ThePerfectionist: They're known for wanting to keep their visions intact, especially in relation to dialogue. It doesn't make them any less pleasant to work with though.
118* ProductionPosse: The amount of crew that changes from film to film can be in the single digits.
119** Each film after ''Film/MillersCrossing'' (except ''Film/BurnAfterReading'' and ''Film/InsideLlewynDavis'') has had Roger Deakins as cinematographer (before that it was [[Film/TheAddamsFamily Barry]] [[Film/MenInBlack Sonnenfeld]]) and a score by Music/CarterBurwell (except ''Film/OBrotherWhereArtThou'' and ''Film/InsideLlewynDavis'' again).
120** The Coens reuse actors very frequently, and have a reputation for being enjoyable to work with despite their perfectionism. Frequent actor collaborators include Creator/SteveBuscemi, Creator/JonPolito, Creator/JohnTurturro, Creator/FrancesMcDormand, Creator/JohnGoodman, Creator/JeffBridges, Creator/JoshBrolin, Creator/BruceCampbell and Creator/GeorgeClooney.
121** The only film to feature little to none of their frequent collaborators is ''Film/ASeriousMan'', in which they deliberately cast lesser-known actors to make the film feel more authentic. There are cameos from previously one-off collaborators like Michael Lerner (''Film/BartonFink''), Steve Park (''Film/{{Fargo}}''), and Katherine Borowitz (''Film/TheManWhoWasntThere2001'' and John Turturro's RealLife wife). And, as alluded to above, ''Inside Llewyn Davis'' is an aversion in a technological sense, as it's the only film where neither Roger Deakins nor Carter Burwell were participants.
122** In addition to these, the Coens are good friends with director Creator/SamRaimi, with Joel assistant-editing ''Film/TheEvilDead1981,'' cameoed and did rewrite work (uncredited) on ''Film/{{Darkman}},'' and collaborating on ''Crimewave'' and ''Film/TheHudsuckerProxy.''
123* PsychoForHire: A favorite trope of the Coens. Examples include sleazy private eye Loren Visser, demonic biker Leonard Smalls, mob hitman Eddie Dane, quiet Swede Gaear Grimsrud, the asthmatic Wheezy Joe, brutal outlaw Tom Chaney, and the unstoppable Anton Chigurh.
124* RealisticDictionIsUnrealistic: Often and successfully averted. The dialogue is as meticulous as the cinematography.
125** Perhaps the best example of this comes from ''Film/{{Fargo}}''. All of the [[VerbalTic jas and jeezes]], as well as all of Jerry's stutters, were specifically written. Also, Peter Stormare first read the line "Where is pancakes house?" as "Where's the pancake house?", thinking it was a typo. The Coens put him in his place, saying "We don't make typos."
126** Played extremely and intentionally straight in ''Film/TrueGrit''; the diction itself (for instance, the lack of contractions) is in fact authentic, but the dialogue itself is practically Shakespearean.
127** ''Film/TheBigLebowski'' has numerous instances of characters talking over each other, stuttering and repeating themselves. Every "um" was written into the script.
128* RomanceOnTheSet: Joel Coen and Frances [=McDormand=] on the set of ''Film/BloodSimple''.
129* RunningGag:
130** The commemorative DVD releases of several of their films (such as ''Film/BloodSimple'' and ''Film/TheBigLebowski'') contain introductions (and, in the case of ''Blood Simple'', an entire [[DVDCommentary commentary]]) by "Forever Young Films", a fictional organization dedicated to preserving "classic" films (but really the Coens' way of poking fun at self-important cinephiles and pretentious film critics).
131** The Coens like to make it seem like Roderick Jaynes, the credited editor on all their films, is a real person. It's really just the pseudonym they use due to guild restrictions on shared editing credit.
132* SadistShow: One of their trademarks is things going horribly wrong for their characters, usually through unfortunate coincidences or small details. The most egregious examples are probably ''Film/ASeriousMan'', ''Film/InsideLlewynDavis'' and ''Film/BurnAfterReading'', but most of their films have it to an extent.
133* SceneryPorn: They often include many stunningly beautiful shots of the outdoors.
134* ScrewballComedy: Many of their films are inspired by this genre. ''Film/TheHudsuckerProxy'' and ''Film/IntolerableCruelty'' could even be considered throwbacks.
135* SelfDeprecation: A collection of their scripts had an introduction written by their "editor," Roderick Jaynes, which basically slagged off the brothers as incompetent film-makers. Roderick Jaynes is actually a pseudonym for the brothers themselves.
136* ShaggyDogStory: Combined with ShootTheShaggyDog, if the Coens are feeling cruel enough.
137* ShrugOfGod: The Coen Brothers never give clear answers to what their films might mean or what's actually going on--so they're more like teasing audiences and critics.
138* ASimplePlan: Pretty much all their movies start with a simple plan.
139* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Most of their films lie far on the cynical end but there are some jarring exceptions like ''Film/RaisingArizona'' and ''Film/TheHudsuckerProxy'', whilst ''Film/{{Fargo}}'', ''Film/TheBigLebowski'', ''Film/HailCaesar'', and ''Film/OBrotherWhereArtThou'' fall somewhere in-between. There's something to be said for the strong underlying sense of morality that permeates their films, though.
140* SmallNameBigEgo: Almost all their films have lead characters who are nowhere near as smart, cunning, charming or noble as they believe themselves to be.
141* StupidCrooks: The brothers tend to include [[{{Criminals}} criminal characters]] in a lot of their stories, including a few bumbling crooks who usually, but not always, appear in their comedies.
142* TheVerse: Several of their films seem to take place in the same universe. The hotel fire from ''Film/BartonFink'' is referenced in a newspaper article in ''Film/MillersCrossing'' (''Crossing'' was produced first, but the films were written simultaneously) and the law firm "Whitehall and Marsh" is mentioned in both ''Film/BurnAfterReading'' and ''Film/ASeriousMan''. The mysterious blue Volkswagen from ''Film/BloodSimple'' reappears in ''Film/TheBigLebowski''. The minor character of Grandma Turner appears in both ''True Grit'' and "The Gal Who Got Rattled". And ''Series/{{Fargo}}'' the series is ultimately revealed to be a StealthSequel to ''Film/{{Fargo}}'', too.
143* TooDumbToLive: Many of Their characters fit this trope perfectly and it always comes back to hurt Them.
144* {{Troll}}: They ''really'' like messing with their audience, sometimes for not other reason than that they can. Nathan Rabin once joked that they'd heckle their own funerals if they could.
145* TwentyMinutesIntoThePast: One of their trademarks. They've been known to make {{Period Piece}}s set in the ''very'' recent past, often with a weirdly specific timeframe ([[TheWalrusWasPaul which is rarely significant to the plot]]). Just to name a few: ''Film/{{Fargo}}'' (1996) takes place in 1987, ''Film/TheBigLebowski'' (1998) takes place in 1991, and ''Film/NoCountryForOldMen'' (2007) takes place in 1980.
146* TypeCasting: They're known for typecasting some of their favourite actors - but in [[PlayingAgainstType roles completely unlike the way they're typically typecast.]] Creator/JohnGoodman typically plays loud, violent and/or completely psychotic characters in Coen brothers films, in contrast to his other roles. (They do, however, make good use of his ability to also be very [[FauxAffablyEvil genial]] in both ''Barton Fink'' and ''O Brother Where Art Thou?'' -- then he finds a middle ground as a man who is affable and crude in ''Inside Llewyn Davis''.) Creator/GeorgeClooney, known for playing suave sophisticates, plays buffoons across four Coen films.
147* UncreditedRole:
148** They were uncredited script doctors for ''Film/FunWithDickAndJane'' and ''Film/BadSanta'', the latter of which they were also credited producers for.
149** For a long time, Joel was the sole credited director, due to the "only one main director can be credited" rules of the Directors Guild of America, though it was no secret as everyone had been treating them as a directing duo anyway. From ''Film/TheLadykillers2004'' on, they were given an exception from the DGA and credited as a duo.
150* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory:
151** Their film ''Film/InsideLlewynDavis'' is based partially on the life of folk musician Dave van Ronk.
152** ''Fargo'' is not, as it claims, a true story, though it was inspired by a real incident in which a man murdered his wife and disposed of her in a wood chipper.
153* TheWalrusWasPaul: Several of their films (most obviously ''Film/TheBigLebowski'', ''Film/BartonFink'', and ''Film/ASeriousMan'') contain imagery, dialogue, etc. that appears to be significant, but has no discernible meaning. [[EpilepticTrees Not that this has stopped people from trying to find one.]]
154* WrongGenreSavvy:
155** The {{Narrator}} in ''Film/TheBigLebowski'' seems to believe that he's in a {{Western}}.
156** Llewellyn Moss and Sheriff Ed Bell in ''Film/NoCountryForOldMen'' are under the presumption that they don't live in a CrapsackWorld. Moss [[spoiler: gets himself and his wife killed because of it]], and Bell ends up realizing the world went to hell a long time ago, but he was too idealistic to accept it.
157** Linda and Chad in ''Film/BurnAfterReading'' think they're the heroes of a spy movie.

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