This Blank Check episode covers Barton Fink as part of the Coen Brothers miniseries, with filmmaker Chris Weitz as guest. The hosts open by noting that Weitz has not appeared on the show in three years despite being a regular presence, and that he specifically wanted to discuss a movie that doesn't exist after his film Afraid was barely released by Blumhouse. However, when the Coen Brothers series was announced, Griffin and David immediately knew Barton Fink was the right fit for Weitz given his recent Hollywood struggles. The conversation establishes that Barton Fink is arguably the Coens' first true blank check, having won Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor at Cannes unanimously, which was so unprecedented that Cannes changed its rules the following year to limit any single film to two awards. This critical reception led to Joel Silver bringing the Coens to Warner Brothers for Hudsucker Proxy at 25 million dollars, their largest budget until True Grit. Weitz provides extensive inside-baseball about his own career trajectory, starting from getting his first industry gig on his 21st birthday and co-writing Antz, through directing American Pie despite having grown up in England and never attending prom, to the Oscar-nominated About a Boy which he considers the sweet spot for his creative partnership with brother Paul. He describes the painful decision to take on The Golden Compass, calling it the most expensive movie ever made at the time at 190 million dollars, after initially dropping out and then returning. The episode examines the Coens' pattern of alternating between critical hits and commercial disappointments, noting that Big Lebowski was seen as a joke movie at the time despite Fargo having just won an Oscar. A significant digression covers the DGA's strict rules about co-directing credits, including how Weitz and his brother were told they could never re-register as a directing team after splitting up, even though the Coens helped break down those barriers. The group discusses the Coens' reputation as notoriously difficult interview subjects who claim their work has no deeper meaning, contrasting with the rich textual depth of their films. David notes that Barton Fink is one of the most sickly-looking films he has seen, and that Roger Deakins' first collaboration with the Coens makes the viewer want to vomit, which is presented as a compliment to the cinematography. The episode includes the show's characteristic tangents into Kenneth Lonergan's filmography, the taxonomy of movies that don't exist, and extended ad reads.
