O Brother, Where Art Thou

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Brotherly Love
by Anders Kirchner

Summary

This movie is in my opinion the best film of the year. I would be surprised if I see another new movie that comes close to this masterpiece.

Plot

The movie revolves around three chain-gang prisoners who escape from hard labor in order to retrieve the loot from an armed car robbery that Ulysses (Clooney) committed. They don’t have much time to get to where the money is buried because a dam construction in the vicinity is planned to begin in just a few days. The movie is about their hardships to get there in time, and about the people they encounter along the way. ”O Brother, where art Thou” has more or less obvious hints to the Odyssey by Homer - among other things the name of Clooney’s character and some of the people they meet on their travels.

Thoughts about the movie

The Big Lebowski, the Coen Brothers' previous movie, showed a straightforward side to their talents. That's not the case with this film, though, as events with no rational explanation abound. Often you don’t know whether something is real, or if a character in the film is just telling the others a lie.

The best thing with the movie is the music, both the selection and the use is superb. (It’s very rare that you feel that the music and the story coincide these days. Most of the time music just seems pasted in to sell copies of a soundtrack.)

Some scenes in the film take an almost surreal approach. The realistic Clooney dismisses most of these events by stating that everything has a logical and rational explanation. But his companions are a bit superstitious and religious and they don’t dismiss explanations that are more fantastic.

The actors and characters

Once again George Clooney shows that he is not just a pretty face but a talented actor. He portraits a con man whose language and gestures could be deemed as ludicrous and pompous, but Clooney don’t even come close to being ridiculous. Instead he creates a person that you both like and find interesting.

Both of his sidekicks, Pete Hogwallop (John Turturro) and Delmar O'Donnel (Tim Blake Nelson) are not exactly what you call talented. But you get to like both of them and somehow find them sympathetic. As usual John Turturro gives an impressive performance. John Goodman also gives a good performance in the few short scenes that he appears in.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Anders Kirchner December 21, 2000