O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Movie Title: O Brother, Where Art Thou?	[Ads/google-ads3.htm]
Official Website (it might still work): O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Rating (out of 10): 10
Reviewed By: Michael Stevens
Buy the: Video/DVD \| Soundtrack
The Review:

Who would of thunk it? George Clooney (Three Kings & The Perfect Storm) as a Southern boy in a comedy based on the works of the ancient Greek poet Homer. I certainly didn't, nor did I know quite what to expect when I went to the theater to see Clooney (minus Mark Wahlberg) in the Coen brother's, O Brother, Where Art Thou? Clooney plays Ulysses Everett McGill, who along with Pete (John Turturro, He Got Game) and Delmar (Tim Blake Nelson, The Thin Red Line) break out of jail while working on the chain gang in Depression Era Mississippi. The three of them plan on recovering the loot that Ulysses hid from a bank job he said he did, but they have to get to the money before the Tennessee Valley Authority floods the place as part of Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration to alleviate the economic hardships of the Depression. This motley crew of escapees contains one smooth talker in Ulysses who pretends he is well educated and sophisticated, one nitwit who doesn't have a clue (Delmar), and a poor fella that trouble just seems to follow (Pete). During these three's misadventures across the state, they are being hunted down by Sheriff Cooley (Daniel von Bargen, A Civil Action) who has just as many problems as the three boys. The three boys' adventure mimics that of the original Ulysses, but with a few modern adaptations. And along the way they run into a few famous people. First they run into Governor Pappy O'Daniel at the radio station where Ulysses, Pete, and Delmar transform themselves (along with Tommy Johnson the guitar player) into the Soggy Bottom Boys and record what will turn out to be a hit song. Tommy (Chris Thomas King) is a colored boy who sold his soul to the Devil so that he could learn to play the guitar. Soon after their radio days the group runs into famed bank robber George "Babyface" Nelson (Michael Badalucco, You've Got Mail). Through out all of this the three guys do make it to their destination, but the loot changes as Ulysses meets up with his wife Penny (Holly Hunter) and daughters. Also in this picture are John Goodman, Brian Reddy, J.R. Horne, Del Pentecost, Wayne Duvall, Ray McKinnon, and Ed Gale as the Little Man. Clooney, Tim Blake Nelson, and John Turturro put in great performances as the outlaws. Clooney especially does a great job with his role all the way down to the neurotic obsession with the Dapper Dan hair crap. The whole governor episodes are hilarious (as is most of the film) as Ethan and Joel Coen take a shot at politics (see The Big Lebowski for other examples of their work). Ethan wrote O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Joel directed it. Though I'm not one to listen to Old Tyme music, even the soundtrack was enjoyable for this film. So in the end, I give O Brother, Where Art Thou? a perfect ten couches, despite the lack of nudity in this film. Adios.