O Brother, Where Art Thou


Joel and Ethan Coen, known as the Coen Brothers, are Oscar-winning American filmmakers. They have been in the business for more than 20 years, and written and directed a number of successful films such as Raising Arizona, Miller’s Crossing, Blood Simple, Fargo, Barton Fink, and The Big Lebowski. Most of their work ranges from comedies to crime dramas. One of their most successful films, however, is O Brother, Where Art Thou.

The film O Brother, Where Art Thou was directed jointly by the Coen Brothers. It was produced in the year 2000 and is rated PG-13. The story is set alongside the Mississippi River around the time period of the 1930s. Among some of the actors in the film are George Clooney starring Everett, John Turturro starring Pete, and Tim Blake Nelson starring Delmar. The movie is a tale of three men who try to escape jail in hopes to gain their freedom. It is approximately 107 minutes long.

The plot begins with three men, Everett, Pete, and Delmar, all escaping from their chain gang in the south in search to go home. On their way to freedom, they run across their once buried treasure and reunite with family. George Clooney plays the role of the oddball, lead character Everett, bringing needed energy and humor to the film. Throughout their journey, the convicts run into various events. They meet a black guitarist and are even given the chance to sing and record a song. They constantly continue to be thrown off track and have no idea what their journey has in store for them. One can grasp the true character of these three men as they journey toward a better life, in hopes for fortune and love.

Since the film was based on the great depression of the 1930s, it used American Folk music appropriate for that time period. Surprisingly enough, the soundtrack became even more successful than the film, selling more than 5 million copies. It won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for Dan Tyminski, who dubbed George Clooney’s voice for the song “I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow,” and Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance for “O, Death” sang by Ralph Stanley. The soundtrack is said to have helped bring back interest in American Folk music. Not only does the film have a great soundtrack, interestingly enough it follows a legendary story of our past. Based loosely on Homer’s Odyssey, the characters in both stories are depicted similarly as to taking a long journey home. Characters from the Odyssey are represented several times throughout the movie. When watching the film, be sure to look for those similarities.

Overall, O Brother, Where Art Thou is a good adventure film that can be funny at times. However, the movie was a little boring considering that it contains dry humor. I like more of a standout, comedy film. I would certainly recommend it for adults but not for children. The moral of the story would be hard to grasp for a child. If you love adventures and bluegrass music, this is the movie for you.