Coens' 'O Brother' an artistic Odyssey homage

By Lyle Henretty

Daily Film Editor

When one sees that Steven Spielberg or Quentin Tarantino is directing a film, one can assume certain things about the plot or direction the film will probably take. The most wonderful thing about the talented, illusive Coen brothers is that their films always have something new to bring to the table. It's hard to believe that the same filmmakers behind the intense "Miller's Crossing" also helmed the classic screwball comedy "Raising Arizona." In a year when tired genres continually reared their ugly heads (dull action movies with Schwarzenegger and Stallone, romantic comedies with teen heart throbs) it is absolutely refreshing to see a movie that attempts and succeeds in doing something different. This is taking into account the fact that the Coens claim their source material to be nearly 3,000 years old.

"O Brother, Where Art Thou" is said to be a re-working of Homer's "The Odyssey" in the deep South during the Great Depression. The Coens admit, though, that they have never actually read the epic poem. Instead they pepper their film with vignettes and illusions to the most famous aspects of the story, including the Cyclops, The Sirens and a disguised Ulysses showing off his immense talents.

The film cleverly mixes the Homeric with a few American Tall Tales (a blues singer selling his soul for the ability to play the guitar) and a couple of truly American caricatures (Huey P. Long, "Babyface" Nelson). "O Brother" contains some of the most entertaining and beautifully realized vignettes put on film in years, as well as some of the most lush settings and vibrant characters.

Despite all that it has going for it, the film just does not come together. It struggles for cohesion by giving the main character, Ulysses Everett McGill (George Clooney), a back-story in the third act that doesn't quite fit, and begins several story lines that never really get resolved. The story centers on three convicts who escape a chain gang in order to find buried treasure. McGill enlists the help of the gruff, suspicious Pete (John Tuturro) and the not-playing-with-even-half-a-deck Delmar (Tim Blake Nelson), basically because they are attached to him, but an uneasy friendship quickly develops. This is the jumping board as they take their own Odyssey through the South.

The acting is first rate, with Clooney giving his best performance ever. Even in his best films, it is nearly impossible to get lost in his characterizations, forgetting that you are watching George Clooney. Here, though, Clooney seems to be channeling the ghost of Clark Gable (or at least Clark Gable doing an impression of Burt Reynolds) and shows an impeccable sense of comic timing. Tuturro, always the chameleon, is all indignation as Pete, always assuming he's getting screwed, but never quite sure how. Nelson's Delmar is the weakest of the three, but his character is also the most shallow. He is simply dumb, though often becomes the butt of some very funny jokes.

One cannot discuss this film, though, without commenting on the stellar soundtrack. The pulsing bluegrass is beautiful to listen to, and infuses the film with a sense of time and place. As long as the music is playing, the plot-holes can almost be forgiven. Almost. The artistic highpoint, musically, is when the trio encounters a group of sexy "sirens" washing clothes and singing country classic "Didn't Leave Nobody But the Baby" (sung in a seductively haunting manner by Alison Krauss, Emmylou Harris and Gillian Welch). This scene is mesmerizing, as the audience feels just as drawn to the sexy trio of singers as the convicts, or as Ulysses himself may have. Many scenes in "O Brother" have equal power to entice and enamor, but the film as a whole is not as tight as it should be.

Probably the film's greatest liability is that it is, in fact, a Coen brother's film. Because of this simple fact, it is held to a higher standard than most. The Coens have spoiled their audiences with excellence, so when one of their movies fall slightly short, it is all the more depressing.

Courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures

Pete (John Turturro), Delmar (Tim Blake Nelson) and Everett (George Clooney) run from the law and seek their fortunes in "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"