O Brother Where Art Thou? (2000)

Please click the links to read my reviews of a few other Coen Brothers films: Blood Simple, The Big Lebowski, No Country for Old Men, Burn After Reading, The Hudsucker Proxy, Raising Arizona, Miller’s Crossing, True Grit, and The Man Who Wasn’t There. 

Synopsis: Did you ever want to see The Odyssey performed by hillbillies? Today is your lucky day…. 

Blurb From the VHS Jacket: “Disenchanted with the daily drudge of crushing rocks on a prison farm in Mississippi, the dapper, silver-tongued Ulysses Everett McGill (George Clooney, The Perfect Storm) busts loose.” 

What Did I Learn?: 1) Apparently, the Devil is a white guy with empty eyes, and a big, hollow voice and he likes to travel with a mean old hound. 2) You can’t display a toad in a fine restaurant. 3) Jesus saves, but George “Babyface” Nelson withdraws. 

You Might Like This Movie If: you always wanted to see ancient Greek stories come to life without any ancient Greeks. 

Really?: 1) Gee….what are the odds of the State of Mississippi treating a chain gang of prisoners to an afternoon matinee at the local matinee in the early 1930s? Even better, what are the odds of Pete (John Turturro playing against type) not only being a member of that extremely lucky chain gang, but arriving shortly after Everett and Delmar decided to catch a flick, and then ordered by the guard to sit just a few rows behind his fellow partners in crime?   Now that’s a coinky-dink! 2) Did I miss something? How did Homer Stokes know the Soggy Bottom Boys were escaped convicts, or that Tommy had sold his soul to the Devil? 

Rating: O Brother Where Art Thou is a uniquely original - and humorous - retelling of Homer’s classic tale, and well worth checking out, even if you aren’t a fan of bluegrass music. Highly recommended. 9/10 stars. 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0190590/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0