O Brother, Where Art Thou?

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Where Art Thou?</div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="514" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 207 ><NOBR><div> <B><IMG SRC="846ba8b0.jpg" border=0 width="186" height="139" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">   <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00003CXRM/reelmoviecriticc">DVD $22.49</A>  </B></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div>  <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00004xq83/reelmoviecriticc">CD for O Brother, Where Art Thou?</A>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="579" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="575"><div> <B>O Brother, Where Art Thou? </B>*** (PG-13)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="575"><div> Reviewed By George O. Singleton</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="549" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 23 WIDTH="545"><div> The law is a human institution</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="640" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Everett Ulysses McGill: George Clooney</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="346"><div> Pete: John Turturro</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="287"><div> Delmar: Tim Blake Nelson</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="346"><div> Governor Pappy: Charles Durning</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="287"><div> Big Dan: John Goodman</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> George "Babyface" Nelson: Michael Badalucco</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="287"><div> Penny: Holly Hunter</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Tommy Johnson: Chris Thomas King</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Homer Stokes: Wayne Duvall</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="346"><div> Radio Station Man: Stephen Root</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="287"><div> Director: Joel Coen</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="346"><div> Blind Seer: Lee Weaver</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B>30 Second Bottom Line</B>: Three convicts escape from a Mississippi chain gang in the 1920's to find buried loot. They have only four days before it will be at the bottom of a lake due to the damming of a river.  </div> <bR> <div> <B>Story Line:</B> Delivered as a not so tongue in cheek comedy, Everett Ulysses McGill (George Clooney), Pete (John Turturro) and Delmar (Tim Blake Nelson) escape from a chain gang still shackled together. A Blind Seer (Lee Weaver) gives them a ride on his railroad utility car and tells them that what they are looking for may not be what they find.</div> <bR> <div> Everett has major goals first to find the treasure and then to regain the hand of his wife who divorced him while he was in prison. Driving down a rural road they pick up a black hitchhiker, Tommy Johnson (Chris Thomas King), who tells them right away that he sold his soul to the devil so he will have superhuman guitar skills. </div> <bR> <div> At an isolated radio station, Tommy and the prison escapees cut a record with the owner/DJ (Stephen Root), whose blindness allows him to record the music of a group that includes a black man. The group describes themselves first as black and then as white, after being told he doesn't make "nigra" music. They are paid $50 and are on their way. Their record is an instant hit and folks are trying to find them so they can be signed to a record contract. Now they need to lay low from the law and record promoters. When they <I>are</I> discovered, it has impact on the political race for Governor. Governor Pappy (Charles Durning) is running for reelection against reform candidate Homer Stokes (Wayne Duvall).</div> <div>  </div> <div> While on the lam the three of them are hitchhiking and they are given a lift by a fleeing bank robber, "Babyface" Nelson (Michael Badalucco), who is in his own world of glory being chased by the law. Once they get into town, Everett meets his ex wife Penny (Holly Hunter), who has all but forgotten him with respect to the past and has no plans for him in her future.  </div> <bR> <div> <B>Tell Me More About It</B>: While <I>very</I> loosely based upon <I>Homer's The Odyssey, O Brother</I> has more to say than can be included in a movie review. Some artists do great work yet it's still hard to understand and appreciate. Abstract paintings are one example and unlike films, they stand still for you to allow your mind to enter the room and catch up. <I>Fargo, </I><I><B>Blood Simple</B></I><I> </I>(re released this year) and <I>Miller's Crossing</I> are films in which the Coen brothers take characters that we can more or less relate to and place them in somewhat strange and stressful situations that tend to bring out less than the best in them.  If the devil does reside in each of us, it's good to know how to keep it in check. </div> <bR> <div> Everett, Pete and Delmar give real meaning to the phrase, "the blind leading the blind." In one of the more overt similarities of this film to the <I>Odyssey</I>, Delmar totally flips out when he believes that Pete has been turned into a frog (in <I>Ulysses,</I> his crew is turned into pigs). Later they meet Big Dan (John Goodman), a one-eyed Bible salesman, an obvious allusion to the Cyclops in <I>Ulysses.</I> </div> <bR> <div> Then there are the films that are another step up (or down) the art scale as you may view it, like <I>Barton Fink</I>, <I>The Big Lebowski</I> and now <I>O Brother, Where Art Thou?</I> While I was able to relate to and enjoy much of this film, it does register high on the whacked-out scale of life. </div> <bR> <div> Beneath the comedy is a peek at American culture that extends far beyond the 1930's depression and people not having money. Some of the topics covered with a sensitive level of humor are country music; rogue crooks; reform politicians; large poor families; selling one's soul to the devil; and the KKK. </div> <bR> <div> The large gathering of the hooded Klan at a cross burning has the feeling of an outdoor church service, sans the tar and feathers for a lynching. In the making of the movie, many of the actors in the KKK robes and hoods are African-American, and let's just say that making this part of the movie was more than a little surreal and very strange. But we should note that just this month, a major decision in Cincinnati will determine if the local TV stations will cover a KKK rally in the town square or ignore them because it's not newsworthy. Some things change while others stay the same. Life <B>IS </B>strange.</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="591" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> PG-13 (violence; language; mature themes)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> George O. Singleton © 2000</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> <A HREF="mailto:Reelmoviec@aol.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:Reelmoviec@aol.com"><U><U>George@reelmoviecritic.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> Mini Filmography </div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="579" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> George Clooney: <I>The Perfect Storm</I></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> John Turturro: <I>Cradle Will Rock</I></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Tim Blake Nelson: <I>The Thin Red Line</I></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Charles Durning: <I>State & Main</I></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> John Goodman: <I>Coyote Ugly</I></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Michael Badalucco: <I>Summer of Sam</I></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="286"><div> Holly Hunter: Timecode</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="286"><div> Chris Thomas King: Debut</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 38 WIDTH="286"><div> Lee Weaver: <I>How Stella Got Her Groove Back</I></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="286"><div> Wayne Duvall: <I>Hard Rain</I></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="286"><div> Joel Coen: <I>Fargo</I></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Stephen Root: <I>Bicentennial Man</I></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div>  <a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=9jVMwncE8Ds&offerid=9619.10000042&type=4&subid=0"><IMG alt="Holiday Cyl 468x60" border=0 src="http://ads24.focalink.com/SmartBanner/nph-graphic?15883.236"></a><IMG border=0 width=1 height=1 src="http://ad.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/show?id=9jVMwncE8Ds&bids=9619.10000042&type=4&subid=0">  </div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>