Oh Brother Where Art Thou

Directed by: Joel Coen
Written by: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Based on: The Odyssey by Homer
Produced By: Ethan Coen
Starring: George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, Charles Durning, Michael Badalucco, John Goodman, Holly Hunter
Cinematography: Roger Deakins
Edited By: Roderick, Jaynes Tricia Cooke
Music By: T Bone Burnett
Production Company: Touchstone Pictures, Universal Pictures, StudioCanal,Working Title Films, Blind Bard Pictures
Release Dates: May 13, 2000 (Cannes), October 19, 2000 (AFI Film Festival), December 22, 2000 (United States)

Plot: Three convicts, Pete, Delmar, and Ulysses Everett McGill, escape from a chain gang and set out to retrieve a treasure Everett claims to have buried, before the area is flooded to make a lake. The three get a lift from a blind man driving a handcar on a railway. He tells them they will find a fortune, but not the one they seek. The trio make their way to the house of Wash, Pete's cousin. They sleep in the barn, but Wash reports them to Sheriff Cooley, who, along with his men, torches the barn. Wash's son helps them escape.

They pick up Tommy Johnson, a young black man who claims he sold his soul to the devil in exchange for the ability to play guitar (a legend told about blues musician Robert Johnson). In need of money, the four stop at a radio broadcast tower where they record a song as the Soggy Bottom Boys. That night, the trio part ways with Tommy after their car is discovered by the police. Unbeknownst to them, the recording becomes a major hit.

Near a river, the group encounters three women washing clothes and singing. The women drug them with corn whiskey and they lose consciousness. Upon waking, Delmar finds Pete's clothes lying next to him, empty except for a toad. Delmar is convinced the women were sirens who transformed Pete into the toad. Later, one-eyed Bible salesman Big Dan invites them for a picnic lunch, then mugs them and kills the toad.

Everett convinces Pete, Delmar, and Tommy to help him win his wife back. They sneak into a Stokes campaign gala dinner she is attending, disguised as musicians. The group begins a performance of their radio hit. The crowd recognizes the song and goes wild. Homer recognizes them as the group who humiliated his mob. When he demands the group be arrested and reveals his white supremacist views, the crowd runs him out of town on a rail. Pappy O'Daniel, the incumbent candidate, seizes the opportunity, endorses the Soggy Bottom Boys and grants them full pardons. Penny agrees to marry Everett with the condition that he find her original ring.

Review: In this fun frolick three convicts, Pete and Delmar led by Ulysses Everett McGill, escape from a chain gang and set out to retrieve a treasure Everett said was buried before the area is flooded to make a lake. Along the way the three get a lift from a blind man driving a handcar on a railway. He tells them they will find a fortune, but not the one they seek. This revelation seemingly startled the the trio. As they make their way to the house of Wash, Pete's cousin. Innthe hope they can lie low for a bit and avoid getting caught. Sadly Pete's cousin Wash reports them to Sheriff Cooley, who, along with his men, torches the barn. Wash's son helps them escape.

From there you see some sweet singing sirens, a revivalist minister baptising converts in a river, a blind man who owns and runs an early radio station for the local community and a great song sung by the Soggy Bottom Buys.

There are plenty of movies that are fun to watch. But there are special movies where we can see just how much the actors and actresses really had fun playing their charactors. This one is a real feel good film.

M J Flack

They sleep in the barn, but Wash