...and Homer is to blame...and maybe George Clooney...
Written: Dec 08 '00 (Updated Feb 20 '01)
Product Rating:
Pros: Innovative Direction, Gorgeous Cinematopgraphy, Some Great Scenes
Cons: Disconnected Story
The Bottom Line: A zany film with funny scenes and aestetically stunning, but short on a cohesiveness. Wait for it to come on cable. (PS George Clooney didn't deserve the Golden Globe)
Legend has it that blues legend Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil at a crossroads to learn how to play the guitar. He was just standing there, one minute knowing nothing about the instrument, and then suddenly he could play it like it wasn't even an instrument, but rather his heart in his hands. No one knows whether this legend is true, but the Coen Brothers chose to make Mr. Johnson a character in their film. Played charmingly by the gifted Chris Thomas King (definitely check out his albums if you're at all into the blues), he is one of the zany characters George Clooney, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson meet on their way to buried treasure. King is also one of the only characters that they come across that is worth watching.
"O Brother Where Art Thou?" has so much going for it; especially for the fact that it was written and directed by the Coen Brothers. If only they hadn't chosen to make a modern-day adaptation of the Odyssey! Greek epics usually involved a lot of weird characters and twists and turns, but very little by way of characterization or development. While that worked fine for the Greeks, it sucks for a movie, especially for a movie directed and written by some guys who have proven in the past that they can create great, complex characters out of irony and love.
Out of the dozen or so wacky people they meet, Chris Thomas King as the taciturn blues guitarist, and Michael Balducco (Jimmy from "The Practice") as notorious gangster Babyface Nelson, are the only diamonds in the rut. The rest, including, to my surprise, John Goodman as a one-eyed Bible salesman, are mildly entertaining, but unconvincing and dull. The three stars fare only slightly better. George Clooney as silver-tongued Ulysses uses too many SAT words with that grating southern accent to be respected as a protagonist. John Turturro as maladjusted Pete is much more believable. But the one worth watching of the three is Tim Blake Nelson who as the simple Delmar is a lovable fool that is a joy to watch.
Overall, "O Brother Where Art Thou" is charming, amusing, and witty. It loses points for being underdeveloped, and at times, boring, but the ending makes up for it, where everything comes together in such a crazy way that you leave the theater sure that you have just seen a film by the strange and gifted Coen Brothers.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.