O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Rating:
Summary: "You two are as dumb as a bag of hammers."
Review: This movie is by far one of the all-time best movies ever made. Joel Coen does an excellent job of translating Homer's "Odyssey" into a modern-day (well, Depression-era US) story, while keeping the audience entertained and riveted to the screen.

Our story starts with Ulysses Everett McGill, Pete, and Delmar off to find "the treasure", which is supposed to be $1 million dollars. "1.2, to be exact." But our boys soon find themselves mixed up in all kinds of adventures, from being "in a tight spot", to "singing in a can", to finding out Everett has been hit by a train and his wife's new beau ("He's a suitor!") to being "bona fide".

This movie really has it all - a great musical soundtrack, outstanding acting, good storyline, and, most importantly, a happy ending. What else could a guy want out of a movie? Explosions? Yes, even in this movie will you find a police truck filled with ammo exploding at a farmhouse.

This movie is a must have for any collection.

Rating:
Summary: An instant American classic--funny and full of GREAT music
Review: Every now and then, a film comes along and it's an instant classic. "Oh Brother, Where art Thou" is one of those kinds of films. Yet ask anyone who's seen it to tell you what this film is about, and they have a tough time. "It's got great hillbilly music" one friend told me. "It's about three convicts on a chain gang in the South" another related. Yes, but that's just scratching the surface.

"Oh Brother" is based on Homer's Odyssey, set in rural Mississippi during the Dust Bowl years of the Thirties. George Clooney is the (alleged) brains behind a trio of escapees from the Chain Gang at Parchment Farm, the infamous state pen. On their way to recover a legendary treasure, they meet with monsters, bards and sirens; all played by local down-home characters you'd meet in any novel of the South. It is side splittingly funny, but with the sadness of tough times adding an undertone of sadness to keep the film genuine.

But what really makes this film so magical is the soundtrack of great music from the "Old Timey" country tradition. The songs are interwoven so that, unlike a musical, they make perfect sense in the plot. No one is bursting into song to express his or her deepest emotions in that artificial manner. Yet this is not a film with music--it's much more. It is truly an adventure with mythic overtones mixed perfectly with a picaresque tale of small-time grifters and small-town characters.

I have a few minor criticisms of this film. For one, I found that the digitized colorization technique used to give the film the dusty brown tone of the Thirties dulled the visual richness somewhat. While the film DOES need the consistency of tone and color digitization provided here, I think it flattened the film in a way that color filters and other optical and photographic chemical techniques would not have done. However, this is groundbreaking use of digital techniques, and perhaps with time, the richness that I think was lost in part can be achieved. How the cinematographers engineered the color matching is detailed in one of the extra features on the DVD called "Painting with Pixels" and it is well worth watching.

One more criticism; there was not enough about the music and musicians who did the score. There was a lot of rich material here that I wanted the background information on and it wasn't to be found on this DVD.

Despite all that, this is a MUST-HAVE DVD and I predict this film will be on many "Ten Best Ever" lists from now on.

ABSOLUTELY A MUST-SEE and MUST-OWN DVD. Trust me...

Rating:
Summary: "Do not seek the treasure!"
Review: The Coen Brothers bring the story of Homer's The Odyssey into the twentieth century in "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" and the result is a mixed bag. The film follows Ulysses Everett McGill (George Clooney), Pete (John Turturro), and Delmar O'Donnell (Tim Blake Nelson) through Mississippi during the Depression years as they come into contact with a number of colorful characters and situations. The Coens do a wondeful job of capturing the mood of the era by populating the film with bluegrass music and images of chain gangs, cotton fields, hobos, and bogus medicines, but these assorted elements never really add up to anything. The film seems to be just a jumble of component parts that don't add up to anything when put together. There's a semblance of a story at the outset when McGill recuits his two cohorts to help him find a hidden treasure but this story thread becomes lost among a Klan rally, an encounter with sirens, meetings with pompous politicans, and a picnic with a Bible salesman. I realize the point of the film is to chronicle the adverturesome trials and travails of the journey from point A to point B, but the stops along the way just aren't interesting enough to keep you involved. When the journey concludes, you feel unsatisfied because there wasn't a grand pay-off that justified the time you invested in the film. The bottom line is that "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" is filled with wonderful music and visuals but is frustratingly empty in the substance department. Clooney, Turturro, and Nelson all give good acting turns but their efforts feel wasted. When Ulysses Everett McGill yells "Damn! We're in a tight spot!", he might have been talking about all the problems apparent in the script.

Rating:
Summary: Another Clooney Classic!!
Review: I was pleasantly suprised at this movie, especially the fact that George Clooney can sing. I got a kick out of the song he sang with "The Soggy Bottom Boys". Clooney has such a wide range of talent.

Unlike his recent release, the remake of the 1972 classic "Solaris" was a lot more intense, but very good. "O Brother, Where Art Thou" is lighter and less taxing drama-wise. This by no means makes any of these movies any less enjoyable.

For one thing, Clooney's character is not without flaws. He lies, cheats, and steals to get what he wants. Also, he loves to grease his hair. It's not until his ex-wife decides to marry another man that he discovers what is really important. In spite of his rather charming nature he still manages to be fooled by a shapely body feeding him moonshine in scantily clad, wet clothing while she harmonizes with two others of the same body type.

The amazing thing about Clooney's character is he mamages to stay a few leagues ahead of the athorities. Even when things look bleak, he manages to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

I highly recommend this movie for those that want a good laugh.

Rating:
Summary: Great Casting!
Review: I've seen many,many movies, and I like most of them.I know good casting when I see it. Some examples of bad casting was putting Cage in Trapped In Paradise.But, Goodman was a good man in this film, Cloony fitted in great, even though he's usally in intense movies. Turtooro(if that's how you spell his name) was great.The reson I saw this movie because I saw him in Mr.Deeds, if you are person who enjoyed Mr.Deeds, and other resonable funny and some unexpected freaky outy parts(like when Emilio stabs Deeds foot with a fire pocker in Deeds) you'll enjoy this movie(I think)

Rating:
Summary: great from the start
Review: I often question the critics "rave" reviews of items, but on day I saw the video for "Man of Constant Sorrow" with clips from the movie and it got me intrigued. I didn't know that it was a "comedy". I rented it to see what it was about and I loved it. I rented it again and had my parents watch it. I don't think that they really got into it though. A co-worker absolutly hated it. Couldn't get through watching it even once. I guess it all depends on you sense of humor. It needs to be pretty off-the-wall to enjoy subtlties like in this movie.

Great visual work, great audio work, FANTASTIC casting. Rent it and see what you think first.

Rating:
Summary: O BROTHER IS GREAT!
Review: I was pretty reluctant to watch "O Brother" in the first place, after being recommended to it from a friend. After i saw the movie however, i was SOOO satisifed. I absolutely LOVED this movie and i would recommend it to anyone. George Clooney is great as Everett and his comrads Pete and Delmar become instantly lovable by viewers of all ages. Not only is the movie funny, but it pulls of Homer's Odyssey like i never thought possilbe! This is truly a great film.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best movies I've seen. 4 1/2 stars.
Review: After hearing about the positive praise of this movie from a diverse crowd and wondering why the soundtrack was in the charts for quite a while, I finally got the opportunity to see this movie. "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" is the second Coen brothers film I've seen since "The Big Lebowski". The adaption of Homer's Odyssey was really creative of the Coen brothers since the movie bears some allusion but don't use this movie as a substitute for the real poetic epic because it does not tie into the real story. George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson make a decent trio as three ex-convicts who are running from the law. They have some strange encounters, a blind prophet who is travelling in a hand operated rail car, three sirens who are washing clothes by the river, and a gigantic bible salesman/KKK member who has only one eye. Those encounters are just some of the allusions to The Odyssey. The trio also take an "alias" to get the public's attention as the Soggy Bottom Boys with their skills in folk singing as Ulysses Everett McGill (Clooney) tries to come home to his wife and kids.

This movie was kind of funny thanks to Tim Blake Nelson's funny southern accent and how the story went. John Turturro had done a decent job as the tough guy of the trio. The thing I liked most about the movie was of course, the music. I'm not a big fan of country, bluegrass or folk but the tunes were catchy, particularly the scene where Clooney, Turturro, and Blake Nelson sing "I am a Man of Constant Sorrow" even though Clooney did not actually sing and just lip-synched. The "Down Into the River to Pray" song was my second favorite because it had some inspiration into it. I liked the scenery of the South even though it had sort of the orange yellow tone color that existed most of the film. The style and creativity is what I liked best about the movie because the Coen brothers had written a good story that is funny and enjoyable. I am going to get the soundtrack and listen to this decent southern music.

Rating:
Summary: Probably not for everyone, but it's a wonderful movie
Review: I approached the DVD with reservation. My friend said that it was his wife's favorite movie and they had watched the DVD so many times that now he had begun to like it a lot too. I got a copy and was caught up in the story right away. The cast of characters are almost cartoon-like in their simplicity but the actors play them with energy and creativity. Clooney's star power comes through but he doesn't dominate the film. Instead, he come across exactly as he should - as a man who has survived on his charm and not his wits. The masterful way the music is used as a unifying force worked very well for me (I bought the CD as well). Without the outstanding music score, the movie would not have been as appealing. It is making the rounds on cable these days and when I scan past it, I hang in there for a while because the acting is so good and each scene is photographed beautifully. Maybe not a film for everyone, but it works just fine for me.

Rating:
Summary: Funnier every time I watch...
Review: I was a reluctant convert to this movie, but now that I've seen this several times, I can't believe I ever resisted watching it. The "old-timey" music speeds up rather than slows down the film like it does in so many other movies and I find myself singing with the Soggy Bottom boys every time I watch. Just thinking about the movie brings a smile to my face.

The only reason I knocked off on star (I would have only taken off a half if I could) was the lack of extras on the DVD. I would have like to have seen a few more, but I'll take Oh Brother any way I can get it!