Fellman's Movie Reviews

RED = SPOILERS 

O’ Brother, Where Art Thou is one of those movies that you just can’t see too many times. It has too many good lines. It has an amazing soundtrack. It has a fantastic story. It’s visually appealing. There’s literally nothing wrong with it. I disagree with George shooting the cow. That’s the only thing I can think of that’s wrong with the movie. Other than that, there’s nothing wrong with O’ Brother, Where Art Thou. I’ve never said no to watching it, and it’s always a good time to when you’re not in the mood to watch anything else. When you can’t think of something to watch, flip on O’ Brother, Where Art Thou. Because, why not?  

What’s it about? O’ Brother, Where Art Thou is about three men who’ve escaped off the penal farm and are on a quest to find a buried treasure before the valley that it’s buried in is dammed up and flooded. On the way they face many trials and tribulations, and are hounded, quite literally, by a sheriff who is tracking them with his trusty bloodhound. 

What’s good? O’ Brother, Where Art Thou has one of the greatest scripts I’ve ever heard. The dialogue is so dynamic and genuine it sounds like it was written by somebody who lived through the Great Depression themselves. It’s only made better by the delivery of the actors in the movie, who, most of them are not southerners. Yet, they still manage to put that accent into their lines, with so much finesse that you wouldn’t be able to tell where exactly they came from. The music makes this movie intensely better. The music is half of what this movie is about. I own the soundtrack to this movie.  

What’s bad? I should literally leave this blank. I can’t think of anything. 

The acting? The acting is amazing. Every actor. From the shopkeeper at Woolworth’s that throws Everett out to Wash’s son, every actor in the movie is just fantastic.  

The effects? From the practical to the CGI effects at the end with the water crashing down on everybody, the effects in the movie are great as well. The practical are far better than the CGI are. But it’s not like the CGI are lacking. 

The soundtrack. One of the greatest soundtracks in movie history. I’m neither religious, nor do I like old-timey music. But I love this soundtrack. It’s soothing, and like butter. It just sounds good.  

The characters. A lot of the characters in the film are based on characters from the epic “The Odyssey” because the movie itself is based on The Odyssey. John Goodman’s character, Big Dan Teague is a parallel to The Cyclops in the Odyssey story. Everett’s first name is, in fact, Ulysses. The Latin translation for Odysseus, the main character of The Odyssey. Pappy O’ Dainel’s first name was Menaleus, otherwise known as King Menalaus, King of the Greeks. His political opponent, Homer Stokes is the name of the man who indeed wrote The Odyssey… 

Based on The Odyssey. It’s amazing how you can take what is literally the oldest literature in modern civilization and turn it into something like this. But when you think about it, it’s been done so many times before. The Odyssey is a time-tested narrative for turning stories into something else. So many themes have been adapted to it, it’s so easy to put it together with something else. It’s no wonder. 

The color scheme. The Coen Brothers used the sepia-tone color scheme camera effect that they did to enhance the feel of the Great Depression dustbowl overtone of the movie. There are no bright colors. All the trees and grass are brown. It’s like it’s perpetually fall throughout the entire movie. Everything has a sandy, gray and dark hue to it. It makes you believe a lot more that you’re there in that era.  

The politicians. The politicians in O’ Brother, Where Art Thou are a great reflection of not only how politicians are in general, but also specifically how they were in an arena like that. Using bias and mudslinging not for any particular personal opinion, but simply for political gain. The only thing that mattered was winning.  

The Klan. At a time in the south during The Great Depression, The Klan was still in a huge position of power. It was more of an unspoken position of power, but they were still there. The fact that they were dancing around at night under a fiery cross, dressed in robes, and it made sense to them that they were going to hang Tommy to make it all seem okay, is all actually true really makes you feel sad about the history of America sometimes… 

All in all, what else is there to say besides “this is one of the greatest movies ever made…” If you haven’t seen O’ Brother, Where Art Thou, you’re the one that’s missing out… It’s there. You’re just depriving yourself of greatness… And as always, keep on watching, with a smile on your face…