Brother Where Art Thou You Two Are Dumber Than a Bag of Hammers Youtube

O Blood brother, Where Art G Movie Review

`Movie Review by Anthony Leong © Copyright 2001`

Love them or loathe them, yous certainly have to requite credit to Joel and Ethan Coen for having the sheer audacity when it comes to constructing the quirky offense-dramas that have defined their filmmaking careers since 1984. Taking cues from their favorite flick noir classics, the typical Coen brothers film is an exploration of the human being status-- primarily the stupid things that homo beings do and become themselves into. Mind y'all, the Coens don't always hitting their mark, every bit "The Hudsucker Proxy" and "The Large Lebowski" then aptly illustrate. Notwithstanding, when they do hit their stride, the Coens accept been known to put together some truly memorable films, chock total of great lines, black sense of humor, and airheaded-simply-likable characters-- their debut "Blood Simple", 1987's "Raising Arizona", and 1996'south "Fargo" come to listen. With "O Brother, Where Art Thou?", a musical comedy 'loosely' based on Homer's epic poem "The Odyssey", the Coen brothers are at it again. And though information technology falls somewhere in-between the ii extremes of their repertoire, "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" is a toe-tapping, entertaining, and somewhat memorable musical that only the Coens could have conjured up.

Who elected y'all leader of this outfit?

Well Pete, I figured it should be the one with the capacity for abstruse thought.

John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, and George Clooney

If you are an addict of the Coen brothers, y'all know the importance of location in their films to set the flavor and tone of the picture (such as Brainerd, Minnesota for "Fargo", doncha know?). In this latest film, the setting is Mississippi in the 1930s, at the meridian of the Smashing Depression, a land where it seems only natural for Southern rural music, whether it exist bluegrass, folk, or gospel, to menstruum freely from every field, stream, and sunset. It is hither that we meet our three would-be heroes, who accept merely escaped from a prison piece of work particular: Ulysses Everett McGill (George Clooney of "The Perfect Tempest"), who is dumb but articulate, and his two co-escapees, Pete (Coen regular John Turturro, seen recently in "Cradle Will Rock") and Delmar (Tim Blake Nelson of "The Sparse Red Line"), who are just obviously impaired.

He own't our daddy.

I am the merely daddy that yous got... I am the damn pater familius!

Together, they are on their way to repossess $1.two million that Ulysses has stashed away from a bank robbery. Unfortunately, because they are Coen-blazon protagonists, they haven't exactly idea everything through, which leads to all sorts of comical complications forth the way. Given that the plot is based on "The Odyssey" (actually, in an interview, the Coens admitted that they didn't actually read it), this route movie features run-ins with a one-eyed Bible salesman (John Goodman of "Coyote Ugly"), three spellbinding 'sirens' who love and liquor upwardly our heroes while gently singing "Didn't Leave Nobody simply the Babe", a blind soothsayer, also as Ulysses' estranged wife Penny (Holly Hunter of "Time Lawmaking"), short for Penelope, who is about to remarry.

Oh George, not the livestock...

However, to inject some Southern season (and quirkiness) into the proceedings, the Coens throw in a couple of grandstanding politicians (Charles Durning of "State and Main" and Wayne Duvall of "Hard Rain"), a homo who sold his soul to the Devil so he could play the guitar (Chris Thomas King), a notorious bank robber named 'Babyface' Nelson (Michael Badalucco of TV'due south "The Do"), a relentless sheriff (Daniel von Bargen of "Shaft") out to bring Ulysses and his cohorts to justice, likewise as the KKK.

Them sirens loved'im up an' turned him into a h-h-horny toad!

With the title, "O Brother, Where Fine art Thou?", the Coens pay homage to director Preston Sturges' film "Sullivan'southward Travels". Like the 1941 motion picture, "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" is a mixed bag of genres and forms (including slapstick, melodrama, romance, and musical) that is told with the use of cleverly-constructed dialogue and wit. Unfortunately, given that information technology is sort-of based on "The Odyssey", there's a heavy episodic experience to the film, as the meandering plot takes Ulysses and crew across the Mississippi, and it doesn't always hold together. Furthermore, it seems as though the Coens are having a petty too much fun coming up with crazy stuff, at the audience's expense. But given how many strange and absurd situations that they have thrown in, you tin can exist assured that if a particular sequence isn't working, it won't be long before one that does work comes forth-- imagine a movie by the Farrelly brothers ("In that location's Something About Mary"), only more than literate and sophisticated. Some of the films more memorable sequences include Ulysses and the boys doing a terrible job of infiltrating a KKK rally, their goofy appearance at a political fundraiser as the Soggy Bottom Boys band (probably the best musical number in the whole film), a fight sequence in a Woolworths, and the supernatural assumption that goes on when one of the trio disappears mysteriously.

You always been with a woman?

I got to get back the family unit farm earlier I start thinking about that.

Some other reason why "O Brother, Where Fine art Thou?" will not exist remembered as 1 of the Coen'southward bottom efforts is that the three leads are so damn likable. Clooney exudes charm and charisma as the silvery-tongued Ulysses-- he may be as dim-witted as his 2 swain escapees, but his proclivity for employing overly-elaborate phraseology makes him an all too axiomatic anachronism to the uncomplicated-minded folk he comes across on his pilgrimage (!). Though he would like to accept credit for singing "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" (the tune you'll be humming on the way dwelling), he is actually vocalisation-doubled by Dan Tyminski, who sounds pretty shut to Clooney'due south actual singing voice. Turturro and Nelson, despite their thinly sketched characters, riff off Clooney very well, and they are fun to watch as they stumble in and out of situations that they can barely comprehend. In improver, these 3 leads are supported by a terrific ensemble, and of particular note is Goodman (who has e'er appeared in Coen films every bit evil characters), who does a memorable and glib turn as the resident Cyclops, while Hunter acquits herself nicely equally Ulysses' estranged wife.

"O Blood brother, Where Art Thou?" doesn't rank with the all-time of the Coen brothers, but thankfully, information technology ranks much higher than their worst, particularly their last endeavor, the unintelligible "The Big Lebowski". With great music, three charismatic leads, and some memorable moments, marred only by an overly-long and meandering plot, information technology is good to come across that the Coen brothers all the same know how to channel their quirkiness into a joke that the audition volition also get. To quote one Ulysses Everett McGill, "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" may be 'dumber than a bag of hammers', just if you lot're looking for two hours of absurd fun, then this moving-picture show is 'bona fide'.