The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs Review: 4 Ups & 4 Downs

3. It's Grimly Hilarious

Every single Coen movie, no matter how dark it might be, has a humourous undercurrent, and it's a distinctly deadpan style that's instantly recognisable as theirs. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is thankfully no exception.

Though this is far from their wittiest or most cutting script, there is an entertaining interplay of light and dark throughout, of literal gallows humour at one point as James Franco's outlaw nearly finds himself hanged from a tree in one hysterical slapstick sequence.

It's a surprisingly violent film compared to what many may be expecting, but the action is more often than not deployed for either darkly comic chuckles or ironic shock value.

These moments are certainly the most enticing the film generally has to offer, though ultimately only hint at the much greater potential the project had.