“Part sincere and part smarmy, part amusing and part windy nonsense, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs plays like an old Western-themed vaudeville show featuring six unrelated sketches of drastically differing quality. In other words, this little Western anthology is minor Coen brothers, worth checking out on Netflix, which backed it, but of very limited potential theatrically.” — from Todd McCarthy‘s Hollywood Reporter review, posted on 8.31.

“The one real jewel in the anthology [is] ‘All Gold Canyon,’ a genuinely eccentric, beguiling and physically gorgeous account of a nutty old prospector (Tom Waits, in a welcome return to a fine role for him) who discovers an untouched mountain valley with a river that runs through it and has more to offer that just beauty. The man feels blessed to have this gorgeous place all to himself, and his ongoing self-directed monologues prove mightily engaging. Waits’ old geezer becomes so affable that one shares his joy in his eventual gold strike. Most assuredly, trouble follows, but the Coens find a twisty way to make the whole thing come together.”