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The Coen Brothers have done it again. Three depression era convicts(George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson)escape a Mississippi chain gang and head off in search of buried treasure that will fund their new lives. Along the way, they sing on the radio and become much sought after stars as well as escapees. Great laughs and a soundtrack that is a lesson/introduction to bluegrass music.

Clooney is outstanding as the fast talking, quick witted Ulysses Everett McGill. Holly Hunter plays his estranged wife. Turturro and Nelson are flawless stumblebums. Also in the cast are John Goodman and Charles Durning.

Dan Tyminksi provides the singing voice for George Clooney on "I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow", the Soggy Bottom Boys song that serves as a template for the bluegrass laden soundtrack that also features Alison Krauss, Ralph Stanley, The Whites, John Hartford, The Cox Family and Gillian Welch. Toe tapping, knee slapping fun for the whole family. You'll be surprised with how relaxed and funny this movie is.

Thank goodness for the Coen Brothers. Their success has brought them bigger budgets,but hasn't rid them of their creativity. I had planned on seeing another movie, but it was sold out so I went to this one instead. By the time it began, I had forgotten what movie I was there to see. I was surprised in more ways than one. This movie is hilarious, but they don't make any cheap jokes just to get the laughs. The writing is brilliant, and delivered with great skill by George Clooney (after this, nobody can say he's just a pretty face) and the rest of the cast. It can be appreciated on many levels, whether you remember the Odyssey or not. I can't remember the last time I saw a movie that was this clever. I've seen others I would describe as beautiful, intriguing, funny and charming, all of which also describe "Oh Brother," but this movie reminded me of older seinfeld episodes where all the subplots came together in the end. You can feel that their journey is building up to something, but you can't tell what. And the Coen brothers do not fail us, the end is certainly not disappointing. It's surprising, and ties up all the loose ends neatly, without wearing the story out.

One of the finest pieces of story telling ever to hit celluloid. The performances are so perfect and dead-on, and the nuances so subtle, that this movie defies description. It is no wonder that the reviews you read run the gamut from "piece of junk", to "superb" to just plain confused. This is a must-see movie, and from there you're on your own, you have to decide for yourself. Note, however, that this film follows its own course -- *loosely* based on Ulysses, and with its own symbolism, characters, and themes. To spot them all you will need to watch carefully, think constantly, and, in all likelihood, see the film many times more than once. Not to worry, it improves with each viewing.

We lived through the depression and related to some of the conditions portrayed. We have watched it perhaps a dozen times. Each time we see it we pick up on something we had missed because we were still laughing at, or discussing, an earlier scene or line. The entire film was a collection of photographically great faces. We are still asking ourselves whether the entire cast were professionals or whether some were individuals found on location. The film was rich with subtle tie-ins like the children tied together with twine, as the prisoners were connected by chains. We still think the cow may have been hit unintentionally. Fords of that era had mechanical brakes. The driver of the car may not have been accustomed the longer stopping distances required. The many allusions to Ulysses Odyssey inspired us to do an inter-net search. We found a modern text version and discovered more sly references. We appreciate blue grass and country music as originally American and found it thoroughly enjoyable, along with the authentic "Go To Sleep Little Baby" and "Down from the Mountain." We were emotionally touched by this film because of our age, and find it totally entertaining every time we view it. We are still amazed that someone not of our generation could have captured the essence of that period of United States history.

First, for those of you who don't know who Owen Gleiberman is, he's one of Entertainment Weekly's movie critics. From what I remember reading in his review when "O Brother Where Art Thou?" came out, he said it was just stupid stereotypes and gave it an F. Now that I've actually seen this movie (I got it for my birthday a few months ago), I realize how stupid I was to trust the opinions of a man who also had the nerve to give "X- Men" a C.

"O Brother, Where Art Thou?" is an excellent film in all senses. I'm normally not a George Clooney fan (Until then, the only movie with him I liked was "From Dusk Till Dawn"), but his performance in this film was perfect, and he truly deserved that Golden Globe he won for it. I also really liked the actor who played Delmar. His realistically amusing facial expressions and hilarious lines ("We thought...you was...a toad!")kept me happy all throughout the film. The frightening Sheriff made an effective villain, and the equally intense scene with the KKK rally was really exciting to behold.

The references to the Odyssey were charming and well- done, although I still don't get who George Nelson was supposed to resemble in the ancient Greek story. However, the Siren scene and its aftermath were quite funny, and John Goodman is creditable as the one- eyed Big Dan Teague. Easily one of the best scenes in the movie is when the Soggy Bottom Boys sing "Man of Constant Sorrow". That song quickly brought a smile to my face, and should have won that MTV Movie Award for Best Musical Performance.

So, you can forget about what the "professional" critics at Entertainment Weekly said about it, and just enjoy this hysterical, light- hearted and worthwhile film.