| O Brother, Where Art Thou | | Cast : | George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson | | Director : | Ethan Coen, Joel Coen | | Studio : | Touchstone Video | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned | | Released Date : | December 22, 2000 | | DVD Released Date : | September 02, 2003 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 08, 2005 | | Summary | Like a dream | Content
 | This film passes almost like a dream - if dreams were spiked with slapstick humor. It evokes, more powerfully than anything I have ever seen, the essence of an America that is no more. Which is both a good and a bad thing.
It's a good thing because no one in their right mind would want to go back to the era before the Civil Rights Movement changed the face of the south and put old Jim Crow to rest.
It's a bad thing because television, air conditioning and sealed up cars have basically ended society, and left us with a thin, fragile shell of a community.
In 1930's America, there was nothing to do on a hot summer night but sit on the front porch, drink lemonade, and talk with your neighbors who were out walking, looking for a breeze.
On Saturday, there was nothing to do but go into town with your children and see everyone out walking around downtown, going from store to store on the sidewalk (imagine that...)
On Sunday, you went to the church of your choice, where you tried to worship the Lord over the rustling sound of whispered gossip, some of it about you and yours.
It was a socially tight, often restrictive world; but it was a world that was focused and centered around people relating to each other; not around gameboys, X-boxes, PC's, cellphone IM's, or sitting alone in your house on a beautiful summer night with all the windows down tight, the AC on full blast and the TV making that flickering, eerie blue light in your curtains.
"Oh Brother Where Art Thou" reminds us both of what we are so glad is over, and of what almost all of us miss on some subconscious level in our hearts; the feeling of being a part of a community. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 29, 2005 | | Summary | O Coen Brothers | Content
| The darlings of the internet generation, the Coen Brothers are an enigma. Their films are either brilliant or weak and yet I always find myself sitting in the arthouse cinema, opening week of their movies. O Brother... is a big-budget film for them and a successful marriage between the small art house film and the money backed Hollywood film. With an Odyssey-inspired storyline, the story hops from episode to episode. Some work better than others. The film is beautifully muted through computer filters and the folk music adds to the mayhem. In fact, the rebirth of the classic bluegrass song I AM A MAN OF CONSTANT SORROW is easily the highlight of the film. George Clooney is strong in the starring role but the story meanders. Laughs occasionally occur but it is pretentious. |
| Rating | | | Date | June 16, 2005 | | Summary | I didn't think I was going to like this movie at all . . . | Content
| My boyfriend said, "Sit down and watch this with me". I looked at the jacket: three guys from prison. Looked like a dumb guy movie. But these escapees were funny. (And Everett wasn't any smarter than the other two, he just had a bigger vocabulary.) I was laughing in no time, but my boyfriend was REALLY laughing. I said, "I know this is funny, but it's not THAT funny". "Oh yes it is, when I lived in Oklahoma, I KNEW people like this." Delmar is so sweet, he apologized for everone else's mistakes, and butterflies land on his finger. Poor Pete, everything bad happens to him. And Everett keeps saying that this time he really is telling the truth. I am not a fan of "country music", but I loved all the songs in this, particularly "Man of Constant Sorrows" (OMG, loved the silly dancing they did on stage at the end), and the gravediggers song, so moving. Some of our favorite lines are:
"We're in a tight spot"
"What line of business are you in? Some of your folding money's come undone."
"I don't want Fop, G*d-d*mm*t, I'm a Dapper-Dan man."
"You watch your language young man, this is a family establishment".
"Yep, they're going to kick our butts", "No I think they're going to paddle it"
"And stay out of the Woolsworth!"
And MY favorite: "Of course it's Pete, LOOK at him!"
I know these are not funny here, but they are really funny in context.
This is not an over the top kind of funny, like Lethal Weapon or Dumb and Dumber, it is a subtle kind of funny, like, "I can't believe these guys are so serious about how ridiculous they're being."
I also like that it has a "restored and colorized" look to it. It makes you think they are in some kind of fantasy land. And a lot of the smaller parts are played by people with very interesting faces. They are funny just to look at.
I like KKK Scene, it is so reminiscent of when the Scarecrow, Tinman and Lion are breaking into the Witche's Castle. And if you read the script, the KKK is signing "E-I-E-E-I-O, Eenie, Meenin, Miny, Mo".
Pappy O' Daniel and his Yes Men are too funny too.
I think the best part about this movie is that it all seemed so disjointed and fun, and until you got to the end, you had no idea how everything was interrelated. It was such a fun, unpredicable surprise. :)
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| Rating | | | Date | June 02, 2005 | | Summary | A complete hoot! | Content
| This movie succeeds on all levels (as pointed out in most of the other reviews here). The only nit to pick is the lack of a commentary track on the dvd. Wouldn't it be great to have the Coen's thoughts preserved for posterity! Just the same, this is definitely a movie to own; I watched it twice in as many days and thoroughly enjoyed it both times, and I'll do it again as soon as time allows. |
| Rating | | | Date | May 23, 2005 | | Summary | Very Entertaining | Content
| This movie is very funny and engaging. It has that old-time feeling of the south, mish-mashed with one heck of a funny cast. This is what comedy is supposed to be. Loved the bluegrass/folk music as well. See this movie... |
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