The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs Review: 4 Ups & 4 Downs
3. It's Brutally Slow At Times
In addition to the wavering quality of the six stories, the pacing is all over the place, and makes the film a frequent chore to sit through at 133 minutes in length.
The two opening shorts last just 15 minutes a-piece but make the most of their scant time, while the next two are 20-minute slogs with minimal dialogue and glacial movement.
Even though the fifth short is closer in quality to the first two, its indecently long 40-minute run-time makes it a tougher sit than it probably should be.
Clearly editing is a major issue here, which is again surprising considering that the Coens edit their own movies and generally do a spectacular job of it.
Here, though, the film would be instantly improved by trimming the fat and upping the pace a little, because when a short drags here, it really drags.