Great dialogue, superb 'Scope camerawork from Roger Deakins, and a genuinely wondrous deus ex machina are among the delights.
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:140
Fresh:108
Rotten:32
Average Rating:7.1/10
Consensus: Though not as good as Coen brothers' classics such as Blood Simple, the delightfully loopy O Brother, Where Art Thou? is still a lot of fun.
Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: Joel and Ethan Coen transport Homer's ODYSSEY to the depression-era South in the silly, fun comedy O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? George Clooney, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson star as three... Joel and Ethan Coen transport Homer's ODYSSEY to the depression-era South in the silly, fun comedy O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? George Clooney, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson star as three escaped fugitives on the run in Mississippi. Their adventures through the barren landscape includes run-ins with a soothsayer, a trio of Sirens, a Bible-salesman Cyclops, as well as other archetypes from Southern folklore and pop-culture including a young blues musician, the Klan, and bank robber Baby Face Nelson. Soon they are caught up in a vicious gubernatorial campaign that would make Huey Long proud. The Coen brothers mix in a host of cinematic references in O BROTHER, including SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS, COOL HAND LUKE, I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG, and even dashes of the Three Stooges. The soundtrack of folk ballads, yodeling traditionals, Delta blues, and prison work songs is outstanding, playing in the background (or foreground) of nearly every scene. Clooney, as the ringleader, displays an effervescent smile that is as intoxicating as the Coens' script is outrageous. The cast, including Holly Hunter, Charles Durning, John Goodman, Chris Thomas King, and Michael Badalucco, is charmingly bewildering in a way that only a Coen brothers' cast can be. Joel and Ethan have done it again, crafting this time a unique film steeped in the traditions of the South--and of Hollywood itself. [More]
Starring: George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, John Goodman
Starring: George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, John Goodman, Holly Hunter, Michael Badalucco, Chris Thomas King, Charles Durning, Daniel Von Bargen, Stephen Root, John McConnell, Musetta Vander, Mia Tate, Christy Taylor, Wayne Duvall, J. R. Horne, Brian Reddy, Frank Collison
Director: Joel Coen
Director: Joel Coen
Screenwriter: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Producer: Ethan Coen
Composer: T-Bone Burnett
Studio: Buena Vista Pictures
Reviews for O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Yes, it's very stylised and mannered, it tries far too hard to be funny, and it's still rather beguiling. It's also just a bit to odd to really work.
Simply, O Brother, Where Art Thou? has one of the richest and most satisfying soundtracks I've heard in years.
I settled in for something eccentrically referential and amusing. What I got was a boring mess.
Confidently cinematic in classical and modern terms, layered with subtleties but also a straight-ahead, crowd-pleasing comedy.
In its best moments (of which there are a few), O Brother, Where Art Thou? has a twang to it.
The Coens are like party acquaintances who keep changing the subject and then staring at you quizzically when you can't follow the thread, or when you stop wanting to follow it, but who then block all your exit routes from their obnoxious conversation.
The ferociously one-dimensional characters here make this muddy ramble more of a guilty pleasure than a success.
After making what are still probably their two best features, the Coen brothers came up with their worst, a piece of pop nihilism.
The Coen's tale of three escaped convicts has more to do with Homer the Simpson than Homer the poet.
its tongue-in-cheek humor effortlessly gives way to poignant drama and period musical pieces throughout.
Watching Clooney, Turturro, and Nelson ham it up singing 'Man of Constant Sorrow' is one of this year's greatest big-screen delights.
O Brother, Where Art Thou? is the Being John Malkovich of the year 2000. The most remarkable thing about it is just how any sane studio executive agreed to back it.
It's an odd, charming movie, not for everyone, but definitely for Coen acolytes. A great adaptation. And buy the soundtrack.
As a big-budget film from two of our great contemporary social satirists, it falls short.
All I can say is that my favorite Joel and Ethan Coen movie used to be Miller's Crossing, now it's O Brother, Where Art Thou?
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