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O Brother, Where Art Thou? Customer Reviews (52 - 54 of 87 Reviews)

A Coles Notes approach to Homer's "The Odyssey"
"O Brother Where Art Thou" was an entertaining journey through the Great Depression and Homer's Odyssey. The stellar cast (including George Clooney, John Turturro, John Goodman, and Holly Hunter) shines. All of the characters are quirky to say the least: a one-eyed KKK Bible salesman, a Dapper Dan-obsessed intellectual jailbird, a blues guitarist who sold his soul to the devil, a blind "prophet," the Devil bent on revenge. This is a Coles Notes approach to Homer at best (even the directors, Joel and Ethan Cohen ("Fargo," "The Big Lebowski," "Raising Arizona") admit to never actually having read "The Odyssey," the story on which "O Brother" is based), yet is unusual and highly entertaining in its own right.

Fueled by an eclectic soundtrack, "O Brother" brought about an unheard-of resurgence of early country music, winning the Grammy Award for Best Soundtrack and outselling most other CDs that year. The selections include gospel, blues, a chain gang song ("Po Lazarus") and a hobo anthem ("Big Rock Candy Mountain"), along with plenty of toe-tapping country music from The Soggy Bottom Boys (fronted by Union Station's Dan Tyminski), Alison Krauss, Gillian Welsh, Emmylou Harris, and more.

The film has an unusual look as well: it was digitally edited to give it the washed-out appearance of the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. There is a very interesting documentary about this process on the DVD; it is the first film to use this technique in North America (although not in Europe). In fact, there are several interesting extras on the DVD, including a making-of, a music video for "I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow," and a script-to-storyboard comparison. "O Brother" is filled with fun, unexpected turns and twists, and a great soundtrack. It may not be the greatest film you'll ever see, but it sure is entertaining!

Best Movie EVER!
Best movie ever, in my opinion. I'd give it 6 stars if I could. I'm no fan of George Clooney, but in this movie he was awesome! And don't be fooled by the title- I thought it was a Shakespearean movie, but it's actually set in the Deep South in the 1920s or so.

The Coen brothers' screenplay is genius, flawlessly combining elements of Homer's Odyssey and the history of the Deep South (I especially liked "servant of the little man" and "who made the color guard colored?"). The three main characters- Clooney, Tim Blake Nelson, and John Turturro- are all very good and extremely different. The movie is full of hilarity from beginning to end, straddling the line between fantasy and reality without ever becoming ludicrous. Half the fun consists of how gross all the characters look/act (but in a funny way), as well as the strange pronunciations (you might want to turn on subtitles in order to understand some of the dialogue). The other half lies in the absolutely brilliant screenplay, filled with unexpected twists and turns at every juncture.

Today's comedies are so often full of either cheap, lowbrow gags or overly dark humor. This movie has neither, and furthermore contains a number of wonderful historical and mythical references- glued together by stunning performances from all actors involved. I've watched this movie again and again, and it never loses its charm. Some of the later scenes involving Holly Hunter (as the nasty ex-wife) are not particularly funny and, in my opinion, inferior to the rest of the piece. Nevertheless, this picture is the best comedy I have ever seen. See it now if you haven't already!

Don't Disregard this Film!
I watch a lot of movies and have seen all of the "classics" and O' Brother Where Art Thou rates among the best of them - no kidding! Twenty years from now, they'll be airing this film on AMC and TCM alongside the likes of North by Northwest, The Wild Bunch and How Green Was My Valley.

The story is completely engrossing and the cinematography is stunning. Realize that filming took place in June/July when the Southern countryside was a lush, verdant green. That bone dry, depression-era dust bowl aesthetic is a wonder of digital editing.

The Coen brothers have done two things that are all too rare in Hollywood these days. First, their screenplay is original (yes, it's loosely based on Homer's Odyssey but to evaluate the film solely on this narrative framework is to overlook the other aspects of the film). Second, they've produced a film that captivates not with multi-million dollar action sequences and the latest Moby track but with great dialogue and an authentic blues/bluegrass soundtrack (well worth buying) that is as much a character in the movie as the three principals - Ulysses Everett McGill (George Clooney), Delmar O'Donnell (Tim Blake Nelson) and Pete Hogwallop (John Turturro). The eclectic cast (that also includes Charles Durning, Holly Hunter, Stephen Root and John Goodman) turns in superbly acted performances across the board. Clooney, who all too often plays 2 dimensional characters, gives an award-worthy performance in what is unquestionably his best role to date. Those not familiar with Nelson or Turturro will be impressed by these wonderfully skilled actors.

I will say that a lot of people have told me that they didn't care for this film, which I find incomprehensible. I'm not sure what more you could ask for in a movie.

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