What do the Ku Klux Klan, the gangster Babyface Nelson, the blues guitarist Robert Johnson, stray livestock, flooding, greasy hair pomade, the Preston Sturges classic Sullivan's Travels, the devil and Homer's Odyssey all have in common? They all help to form the delicious, if a bit odd, cinematic gumbo that is the Coen brothers' latest offering, O Brother, Where Art Thou?
A decidedly quirky film (even for the notoriously offbeat Coens), O Brother melds the Odyssey with a Depression-era comedy, with mixed results. There's a message in there somewhere, but I was having too much fun watching the journey of Ulysses Everett McGill (George Clooney, channeling Clark Gable in a stellar performance), Pete Hogwallop (John Turturro in a manic performance), and Delmar O'Donnell.
You don't necessarily have to be familiar with the Odysseyor Sullivan's Travels (the title of the Coen brothers' movie comes from the name of the film that the main character in Sullivan's Travels wished to make), but it certainly makes the movie that much more entertaining.
The movie opens with the trio of Ulysses, Pete and Delmar escaping from a prison chain gang in 1930s Mississippi. They're on a mission to recover some treasure that Ulysses heisted awhile back and buried in a secret location.They have numerous misadventures along the way, ranging from recording a hit single as the Soggy Bottom Boys to infiltrating a secret KKK rally to save their blues guitarist friend.
When Ulysses discovers his wife Penny is getting re-married, he begins a quest to win her back and reclaim his rather large family (strangely comprised of all girls).As the film builds to its almost anti-climax, the Coens manage to weave their myriad strands together to form a memorable motion picture.
Largely episodic in nature, O Brother is rich with period detail and the soundtrack transports the viewer directly to the Mississippi delta of the 1930s, with the highlight being the Soggy Bottom Boys' smash single, "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow." Director Joel Coen (brother Ethan co-wrote the script and produced) orchestrates his ensemble cast deftly, with support from Roger Deakins's luminous photography and Dennis Gassner's production design.
For more information about O Brother, Where Art Thou?, go to http://studio.go.com/movies/obrother/index.html
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