E Aí, Meu Irmão, Cadê Você?

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.

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.

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.

Those Coen brothers' movies really do grown on you. I had just seen Fargo when I rented this. It is one of the most creative, off the wall films I have ever seen. As these characters bumble their ways after a prison break, they are embraced by a series of the most unconventional personages ever to hit filmdom. And one gets turned into a frog--sort of. their flirtations with fame, the Klan, a cyclops, and all the other episodes, make this a hilarious romp. George Clooney's Ulysses is an obsessive, full speed ahead, damn the torpedoes, coupled with the charming half-wittedness of his fellow travelers, works at every level. Like Greek poetry, he is butting heads with the gods, but despite setbacks, keeps moving. It is story telling with charm and a load of bull. Everyone is some kind of philosopher, but the words come out of gap toothed, shaved headed hillbillies. And, of course, Clooney has hell to pay. I could watch this over and over again. And then there's the really cool music. I didn't even mention that!

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.