Set in 1941, Barton Fink details the plight of a New York playwright who packs up and moves to Los Angeles seeking the riches of the film industry. Instead, his assignment, to write a wrestling movie, brings him a severe case of writers' block. The character Barton Fink is loosely based on the playwright Clifford Odets. Barton Fink was the only film in the history of the Cannes Film Festival to sweep the Palme d'Or, as well as Best Director and Best Actor awards.

Barton Fink is a playwright and screenwriter who has just successfully debuted on Broadway. Riding on the waves of his accomplishment, Fink moves from New York to Los Angeles to work as a screenwriter in Hollywood. A severe case of writers’ block leads Barton to meet a series of questionable characters, who entangle him in a surprising plot twist involving murder and a cover-up.

• John Turturro: Barton Fink
• John Goodman: Charlie Meadows
• Judy Davis: Audrey Taylor
• Michael Lerner: Jack Lipnick
• John Mahoney: W.P. "Bill" Mayhew
• Tony Shalhoub: Ben Geisler
• Jon Polito: Lou Breeze
• Steve Buscemi: Chet
• David Warrilow: Garland Stanford
• Richard Portnow: Detective Mastrionotti
• Christopher Murney: Detective Deutsch
• Harry Bugin: Pete