巴顿(约翰•特托罗 John Turturro 饰)是纽约的一名优秀的编剧,他的剧本刚刚在百老汇得到认可,好事便接踵而来。好莱坞的一间电影公司邀请他到当地创作一部关于摔角的B级片剧本,于是,巴顿便来到了好莱坞。巴顿租住在一间破败的旅馆中开始了他的创作,无奈灵感却迟迟未光临,他陷入了巨大的苦闷当中。更不幸的是,此刻,巴顿隔壁的房间里发生了种种怪事,使他犹如置身于人间炼狱,脑海中不时浮现出种种荒诞可笑的幻象……In 1941, New York intellectual playwright Barton Fink comes to Hollywood to write a Wallace Beery wrestling picture. Staying in the eerie Hotel Earle, Barton develops severe writer's block. His neighbor, jovial insurance salesman Charlie Meadows, tries to help, but Barton continues to struggle as a bizarre sequence of events distracts him even further from his task.