O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Joel Coen/Ethan Coen, 2000, UK/France/USA)

O Brother, Where Art Thou? is among the Coen Brothers’ most successful and acclaimed works. Arriving on the heels of the 1998 cult hit The Big Lebowski, the Coens by this point were firmly established in the echelons of Great American filmmakers, and were able to attract the biggest stars in Hollywood - in this, George Clooney. Clooney here plays Ulysses Everett McGill, a convict who serves as the smartest of a trio of escaped convicts, including Pete (John Turturro) and Delmar (Tim Blake Nelson). Set in the American South during the Great Depression, O Brother is among the Coens’ best-looking films, with cinematographer Roger Deakins bathing the film in deep sepia tones.

The film is a very loose retelling of The Odyssey, with most major characters in the film reflecting, in some ways, characters from that work. Supposedly, the Coen Brothers were not familiar with Homer before writing the film, and somehow fell into adapting The Odyssey. Those with any passing familiarity with The Odyssey will recognize many adapted characters, including the seductive sirens and the one-eyed “cyclops” Dan Teague (played by Coen stalwart John Goodman).

Music is at the core of the film, and thus it is fitting that the soundtrack was arguably more successful than the film itself, reaching 8x Platinum status. The version of “Man of Constant Sorrow” that appears in the film is instantly infectious. If there are some faults with O Brother, it’s largely due to the film’s episodic and fractured nature. There are great set pieces in the film, but it is perhaps enjoyed most on a scene-by-scene basis rather than as a collective whole. There is a fever dream quality to the whole film that perhaps was the creators’ intention. Overall, O Brother, Where Art Thou? is an interesting if somewhat uneven experience.

7/10