O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)

In the deep south during the 1930s, three escaped convicts search for hidden treasure while a relentless lawman pursues them.

Directors:

Joel Coen, Ethan Coen (uncredited)

Writers:

Homer (epic poem "The Odyssey"), Ethan Coen

Stars:

George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 7 wins & 35 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
George Clooney	...	Everett
John Turturro	...	Pete Hogwallop
Tim Blake Nelson	...	Delmar O'Donnell
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)

Storyline

Loosely based on Homer's "Odyssey," the movie deals with the picaresque adventures of Ulysses Everett McGill and his companions Delmar and Pete in 1930s Mississipi. Sprung from a chain gang and trying to reach Everett's home to recover the buried loot of a bank heist they are confronted by a series of strange characters--among them sirens, a cyclops, bank robber George "Baby Face" Nelson (very annoyed by that nickname), a campaigning governor and his opponent, a KKK lynch mob, and a blind prophet who warns the trio that "the treasure you seek shall not be the treasure you find."

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Plot Keywords:

greek mythology | slapstick comedy | odysseus | neo screwball comedy | convict | 

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Taglines:

They have a plan, but not a clue.

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Crime | Music

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some violence and language

Details

Country:

UK France USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 February 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Filming Locations:

Vicksburg, Mississippi, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$26,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$195,104, 25 December 2000

Gross USA:

$45,512,588

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$71,868,327

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures, Universal Pictures, StudioCanal

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of the notable features of the film is its use of digital colour correction to give the film a sepia-tinted look. Joel Coen stated that this was because the actual set was "greener than Ireland." Cinematographer Roger Deakins stated, "Ethan and Joel favoured a dry, dusty Delta look with golden sunsets. They wanted it to look like an old hand-tinted picture, with the intensity of colours dictated by the scene and natural skin tones that were all shades of the rainbow." Initially the crew tried to perform the color correction using a physical process, however after several tries with various chemical processes proved unsatisfactory, it became necessary to perform the process digitally.

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Goofs

Nelson asks if any of "you fellers" knows his way around a Walther PPK. He then pulls out a sub-machine gun. The Walther PPK is a pistol.

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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'?

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Crazy Credits

The credit for Alan J. Schoolcraft, the president of operations for Mike Zoss Productions, is all in Spanish: "El Encargado de Mike Zoss Productions"

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Connections

Referenced in The Rep (2012)

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Soundtracks

You Are My Sunshine
(1940)
Written by Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell
Performed by Alan O'Bryant
Also performed by Charles Durning, George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, Chris Thomas King, and Chorus

User Reviews

Pretty darn good

Having seen most of the Coen Brothers previous films I expected something different and slighty off centre. OBWAT is certainly those things, but it also has a heart as big as..well..as big as Mississippi. It is one of the most plainly enjoyable movies to have come out in recent times, intelligent, well-crafted, clever and superbly acted.

Characters are delivered in their myriad shades by a group of marvellous actors. George Clooney winning me over completely with his Clark Gable-ish looks and character. Having only ever seen him in Three Kings and his Thin Red Line cameo, I am now a fan. More comedy please George.

John Tuturro and Tim Blake Nelson ably assist, especially Nelson. If ever "The Simpsons" is made into a movie then he must be a natural to play Cletus the slack-jawed yokel. I don't think there is a performance that falls short of excellent from the entire cast. My special favorite is Stephen Root as the blind Radio Station Man.

Great old-timey music, a jiggy type dance by Clooney that I am trying to learn, and a feel of depression era southern US enhanced by sepia-like photography make this the best movie I've see so far this century. The only drawback to the film is that it has almost sent me broke buying the soundtrack, the DVD and a DVD player to play it on....it's THAT good!