Barnes & Noble

Sibling filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen (The Big Lebowksi) enhanced their well-deserved reputation for comedic ingenuity with this rib-tickling and extremely loose adaptation of Homer's epic poem The Odyssey. O Brother chronicles the picaresque adventures of three chain-gang escapees traversing Depression-era Mississippi in search of treasure (the title is that of the social issues picture the director wants to +make in Presten Sturges's Sullivan's Travels). George Clooney (who positively radiates star quality), John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson play the hapless ex-cons who encounter oracles, sirens, and even a Cyclops (John Goodman sporting an eye patch) before achieving unexpected and improbable stardom at the end of their journey. The Coens chart this bizarre voyage with customary meticulousness, replicating 1930s Mississippi and its inhabitants down to the tiniest detail. As always with these filmmakers, the supporting players are perfectly cast, especially Charles Durning, Holly Hunter, and Goodman -- the latter in a terrific turn as a psychotic Bible salesman. Yet the movie's most effective "character" may well be its musical score, an assortment of bluegrass standards and slavery-era spirituals that set the period and enhance the narrative. Inventive and unpredictable (even to those who remember their Homer), O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a tuneful funfest that represents the Coens at the top of their game. They, along with major cast members, are interviewed for a making-of featurette included on the DVD, which also features a documentary on the digital enhancement technology used during the movie's postproduction period, comparisons of script and storyboards with the finished film, and a "Man of Constant Sorrow" music video. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

The writing, directing, and producing team of Joel Coen and Ethan Coen created this picaresque comedy (inspired in part by Homer's The Odyssey) set in the Deep South during the Depression. Suave and fancy-talking Everett Ulysses McGill (George Clooney), dim-witted Delmar (Tim Blake Nelson), and easily-excitable Pete (John Turturro) are serving time together on a prison chain gang. Everett knows where $1.2 million is hidden that's theirs for the taking, and the three manage to escape; however, a stranger soon warns them that they'll find treasure, but not the sort they're looking for. As Everett and his partners hit the road, they happen upon a gluttonous bible salesman, Big Dan Teague (John Goodman); meet up with Baby Face Nelson (Michael Badalucco) as he robs a bank; encounter three Sirens doing their washing; run into Everett's estranged wife Penny (Holly Hunter), who has told everyone her husband was killed in a train wreck; find themselves in the middle of a heated campaign between political boss Pappy O'Daniel (Charles Durning), and reformist candidate Homer Stokes (Wayne Duvall); and even find time to make a hit record as The Soggy Bottom Boys. Noted songwriter T-Bone Burnett helped compile the songs (combining vintage country blues tunes with originals in the same style), while Carter Burwell composed the background score. Incidentally, the title O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a reference to the classic Preston Sturges comedy Sullivan's Travels, in which a director plans to make a serious "message picture" with that name. Mark Deming

New York Times

Rather than wallow in nostalgia for the past, [the Coen brothers] dare to reinvent it, to make it something strange, beautiful and new. O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a tribute to, and example of, the persistent vitality of the American imagination. It's bona fide... A.O. Scott

Product Details

• UPC: 786936144758
• Source: WALT DISNEY VIDEO
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Cinemascope (2.35:1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital, DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Español
• Time: 1:43:00
• Sales Rank: 498

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