O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)

Director:

Joel Coen

Writers:

Homer (epic poem "The Odyssey")
Ethan Coen (written by) ...

Release Date:

22 December 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Adventure | Crime | Music

Tagline:

Sometimes, you have to lose your way to get back home

Plot:

Homer's epic poem "The Odyssey", set in the deep south during the 1930's. In it, three escaped convicts search for hidden treasure while a relentless lawman pursues them.

Plot Keywords:

Chain Gang | Mississippi | Prophet | 1930s | Bank

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 29 nominations

Cast

George Clooney	...	Everett
John Turturro	...	Pete
Tim Blake Nelson	...	Delmar
John Goodman	...	Big Dan Teague
Holly Hunter	...	Penny
Chris Thomas King	...	Tommy Johnson
Charles Durning	...	Pappy O'Daniel
Del Pentecost	...	Junior O'Daniel
Michael Badalucco	...	George Nelson
J.R. Horne	...	Pappy's Staff
Brian Reddy	...	Pappy's Staff
Wayne Duvall	...	Homer Stokes
Ed Gale	...	The Little Man
Ray McKinnon	...	Vernon T. Waldrip
Daniel von Bargen	...	Sheriff Cooley (as Daniel Von Bargen)

Also Known As:

O' Brother (France)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some violence and language.

Runtime:

106 min | 107 min

Country:

UK | France | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:K-14 | Germany:12 | Iceland:12 | Malaysia:U | USA:PG-13 (certificate #37333) | USA:TV-14 (TV rating) | France:U | South Korea:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Brazil:12 | Sweden:11 | Norway:11 | Canada:G (Québec) | New Zealand:M | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Ontario) | Singapore:PG | UK:12

Filming Locations:

Canton, Mississippi, USA

Company:

Touchstone Pictures

Trivia:

Another possible link comes from the William Faulkner short novel, "Old Man". In it a convict survives an Odyssey like adventure. The "tall convict" in the story is carried away on the flooding Mississippi of 1927 and struggles to return home. At the very end of the story he remembers the only sweetheart he had before being incarcerated and how she stopped visiting him in prison or returning his letters until finally sending him a postcard. "It was a postcard, a colored lithograph of a Birmingham hotel, a childish X inked heavily across one window, the heavy writing on the reverse slanted and primer-like too: This is where were honnymonning at. Your friend (Mrs) Vernon Waldrip."

Goofs:

Continuity: In the overhead shot of people walking into the river from behind them, the preacher and the person being baptized are deep in a tree shadow. When Delmar emerges some the same place and declares that the "preacher has washed his sins away", the shadow has moved several feet away from the preacher.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Ulysses Everett McGill: Say, any of you boys smithies? Or, if not smithies per se, were you otherwise trained in the metallurgic arts before straitened circumstances forced you into a life of aimless wanderin'?

Movie Connections:

References The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)

Soundtrack:

In the Highways

A great sound, a great look, and a great story.

I was into the movie right away. I've seen the other Coen movies, with the exception of Raising Arizona, and I've noticed that each of their movies has a color. Fargo is gray/white, Lebowski is bright orange, and this movie is a pleasant yellow.

The bright pleasant qualities of this movie start right away. Soon the look is accompanied by the great, great music. It's the old folk sound, the kind of music that was written during a time when music was enjoyed as a part of day to day life. Enjoyed by everyone, chain-gangs, church choirs, and even prison escapees.

Now, about the prison escapees. I don't know what crime their characters could have possibly committed, as they are a very very friendly group of guys. Clooney is fantastic, completely nailing his role.

Go see this as soon as possible. I believe that it can be enjoyed by anyone at some level. For some reason, the theater I was in was full of old ladies and old men, and they loved it.

You'll love it too, I promise. I was compelled to get my hands on the soundtrack right away.