O Brother, Where Art Thou?

2000 Homer adaptation

Rating: 18/20 (Jen: 17/20)

Plot: It's a faithful adaptation of The Odyssey of Homer. In the middle of 1930s middle America, three escaped convicts (logorrheic Everett and his dopey companions Delmar and Pete) try to find their way to a treasure before the valley's flooded and said treasure is submerged at the bottom of a lake. And, of course, before the law catches up to them. Along the way, they bump into blind prophets, sirens, Babyface Nelson, prospective governors, and a cyclops.

I love everything about this movie. I love the comedy which perfectly combines brilliant performances with brilliant writing. I love the music, the timeless folk music that manages to both capture the Great Depression era and seem otherworldly. I love the Homer allusions and the nods to Hollywood screwball comedies. Most of all, I love the cinematography where the settings add so much color and become just as important as the characters. This film's got such a texture, an impossible-to-duplicate texture, that makes this a one-of-a-kind piece of filmmaking that I imagine will keep it around forever. It's got to be close to impossible to watch this movie without smiling often. It's definitely one of those movies I can watch again and again without ever getting tired of even though people watching it with me might get tired of me laughing in anticipation of certain upcoming gags. Both literary and dumb, there's enough here to appeal to nearly everybody, and it'll even teach you a few new vocabulary words. It's hard to believe that this is only the third best Coen comedy. It might have the single best Coen Brother scene, however, with that can't-believe-I'm-seeing-this KKK rally that even has a Wizard of Oz reference. Any discussion of "best movie musical ever" must include O Brother, Where Art Thou?

2 comments:

l@rstonovich said...

i dunno man, i love the cohen bros. as much if not more than most, i found this one a little too cutesy...

2 of the big things that bother me... why do they call the dude tommy johnson and have the crossroads bit? i believe there was a tommy johnson..
my fav. part of the oddessey is the blood bath Odesseys and telemachas pull off... and in the oddessy penelope pines and waits for her husband... i dunno man...either do the oddessy or don't. someday i will learn to spell odessey.

Shane said...

I don't think we need a faithful adaptation of 'The Odyssey' by the Coen brothers...

I guess I see your point though. Maybe "Penelope" should have been waiting patiently for Clooney to return. Of course, then we wouldn't have the "Your daddy was hit by a train" line. Do you also have a problem with John Goodman not losing his other eye?

Not sure why they had Babyface and "Tommy" Johnson. 1930s would have been a little post-Robert Johnson though, right?