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O Brother, Where Art Thou? Customer Reviews (49 - 51 of 87 Reviews)

Coen Brother's Score Again
The Coen Brother's O Brother, Where Art Thou? is based on Homer's Odyssey and the film is a magical journey through 1930's Mississippi. The film centers on three escaped convicts who are trying to get to $... that Everett has stashed away at his home before it gets flooded out for a new hydropower network that's being set up. The three cons are hilariously played by George Clooney, Tim Blake Nelson and John Tuturro. Mr. Clooney in particular shines as Everett. He fashions himself as an intellectual and his crazed obsession with his hair is hysterical. Everywhere he goes he must have Dapper Dan pomade and hairnets. Along the way on their journey, they met a man who sold his soul to the devil in order to play a mean guitar, cut a record as The Soggy Bottom Boys that, unbeknownst to them becomes a big hit, met three sirens who seduce them, met a crooked bible salesman (played with hilarious gusto by John Goodman) and cross paths with the governor (Charles Durning). In the end Everett is really looking to stop his wife (Holly Hunter) from remarrying. The film strings together all of its twists and turns brilliantly. The acting is first rate, the cinematography adds a brownish hue reminiscent of photographs from the era and of course, the soundtrack has recently won a Grammy as Album of the Year. All in all, O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a first rate film.

The Classics Go Pop.
Only the Coen Brothers could loosely base a film on THE ODYSSEY, set it in rural 1930s Mississippi, change the lead character from a war hero to an escaped chain-gang convict, and make the movie work successfully. The plot of the movie is that Ulysses "Everett" McGill, Pete, and Delmar are three convicts, chained together, who have escaped and are on the run to supposedly fine some loot (1.2 million dollars to be exact) that "Everett" buried before he was put in the pen. Along the way they meet a variety of characters from a blind railroad man, a one-eyed Bible salesman, three beautiful sirens washing clothes in the river, and George "Babyface" Nelson. Throw in a Klu Klux Klan meeting that starts off in a rousing musical number that seems a cross between a Broadway musical and the flying monkey theme from THE WIZARD OF OZ; a couple of lynch mobs; back-stabbing family members; a prayed for miracle flood of Biblical proportions; and a strange character who seems a lot like the devil and you're in for a toe-stomping, roller coaster ride of a movie filled with humor of all kinds.

Many people have criticized the movie because they don't understand what's going on throughout the movie. To begin with, the film is loosely based on Homer's THE ODYSSEY. If you're familiar with that classic piece of literature, you will have a better understanding of the movie and perhaps appreciate it a bit more. But if you aren't familiar with THE ODYSSEY, it really shouldn't make too much of a difference. This is a Coen brother's film and like all of their movies it is quirky, somewhat bizarre, and full of classical and pop cultural references. The humor is on several different levels from visual gags to witty word play.

However, not everyone will find the film enjoyable. Nevertheless, this is probably the most audience accessible of all Coen films. It's made in the same sort of style as RAISING ARIZONA and THE HUDSUCKER PROXY and has a "happy" ending. The film feels like one is watching an old silent film brought to life and connected together. Not only that, but the movie also has one of the best soundtracks in recent years; the music is a key part of the film.

Other than that all I can say is that my brother and I are different as night and day and there aren't very many movies we both enjoy. We both loved this movie.

Homer meets The Three Stooges in the Mississippi Delta!
Alright, folks... here's your riddle of the day: Whaddaya get if you cross the Three Stooges with the Greek poet Homer?

"O Brother, Where Art Thou?" that's what!

Here is another superb comedy finely crafted by screenwriters /producers/ directors Joel and Ethan Coen. Starring George Clooney, Tim Blake Nelson, and John Turturro, it features a brilliantly written script, superb acting by a wonderful ensemble cast, and a musical score that's simply second to none.

"O Brother, Where Art Thou?" is a simple story really... set in the Mississippi delta region during the Great Depression, it's the tale of three petty criminals who escape from the chain gang in quest of buried treasure and experience a series of misadventures along the way. Ulysses Everett McGill (Clooney) is the silver-tongued, self-appointed leader of this odd trio, a man who claims to have stolen and buried over a million dollars in cash. Delmar O'Donnell is the docile, sweet-tempered dimwit (played to perfection by Tim Blake Nelson). The third member of our little gang is an irritable, acerbic fella named Pete. Together they set off, chained to each other, in search of McGill's treasure, which is buried somewhere about to become a man-made lake. Our heroes have only four days to find the loot before it's lost forever at the bottom of the newly created reservoir.

As they begin their journey, the run across an old blind seer who prophesies that they will find a fortune, but not the one they seek. with a posse of law enforcement officers and vigilantes hot on their heels, Everett, Pete and Delmar ditch their chains and prison garb and continue on their quest.

Our trio's journey is anything but quiet and uneventful. They continually run into strange people and situations... At one point, soon after stealing a car and picking up a guitar-playing hitch-hiker, they stop at a local radio station and, posing as an "old-timey" music group called the "Soggy Bottom Boys," they cut a record that's soon all the rage throughout the region. Later they encounter a Baptist congregation at river's edge, singing a beautiful song, lulling our heroes into sweet forgetfulness for a few brief moments. They happen upon three washer-women, also at river's edge, whose siren-like song ensnares our three miscreants... George Nelson, a bank robber on the run, who nearly co-opts our heroes into a REAL life of crime... the one-eyed, fast-talking Bible salesman Dan Teague (played by John Goodman) who offers Everett, Pete, and Delmar a hard lesson on economics and life in general in the Depression-ravaged Deep South... and other characters as well: Governor Pappy "Pass the Biscuits" O'Daniel, running for re-election against a reform-minded candidate named Homer Stokes... Everett's ex-wife Penny, soon to me re-married to a real drone named Vernon Waldrip... and a whole gang of fellas dressed in white sheets and hoods who take exception to our heroes' intrusion into their ceremonies.

One of "O Brother, Where Art Thou's?" greatest strengths is its musical score. As the Coen brothers point out, nary a scene goes by without some kind of music in the background. The songs - 19 of them by my count - are all wonderful. It's a sublime mixture of old-time gospel and country music and African-American spirituals. From James Carter and the Prisoners' "Po' Lazarus," through Alison Krause's sweetly simple and reverent "Down to the River to Pray" (with brilliant harmonies added by the First Baptist Choir of White House, Tennessee); the old-time country classics "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" and "Hard Rock Candy Mountain," and "You Are My Sunshine;" to the old-time Gospel classics "Keep On the Sunny Side;" "I'll Fly Away" and "I Am Weary (Let Me Rest)," (and many other songs as well), the music adds an extra dimension to this already multi-faceted film. (By the way, all these songs can be found on the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack compact disc... but that's another review!)

I've now watched "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" about a dozen times. Each viewing has been a genuine pleasure for me. This film is clever in its conception, extraordinary in its execution, sublime in its storytelling, and masterful in its music. In short... wonderfully entertaining in every respect. A definite "must-see" for movie-lovers everywhere!

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