Father Geek here with a couple of reviews of the ultra cool O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU flick. There may be what some of you consider SPOILERS in these looks at the movie, soooooooo if you don't want to see them STOP READING RIGHT NOW!!! Do you understand that if you continue reading you may well run into some SPOILERS relating to the motion picture O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU?

STOP NOW!!!

O.K. it's not our fault...

We've just got back from a special preview showing of O Brother, Where Art Thou at the NFT and I thought I'd send you a few thoughts... I wasn't entirely sure what to expect of the film as I'd heard mixed reviews, even from Coen's fans - so I was very pleasantly surprised as I absolutely loved it! As with many Coen's stories, the destination is not necessarily as important as how you get there, so it's difficult to describe the plot of the film, basically it's the story of three escaped convicts, led by George Clooney and their bizarre journey across Mississippi. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not overly familiar with Homer's Odyssey, but even to those unfamiliar with it, you can detect a pattern in that the story is about a journey and the things that happen and the people that they meet along the way. Too say much more would be to go too far into the detail of the film... I think to a certain extent, how much you enjoy this film will depend on what you're expecting. Let's be honest, an awful lot of movie lovers are huge Coen's fans, but they have quite a diverse body of work and not every film suits everyone's tastes. Personally I really don't like Blood Simple (it's 99 minutes of my life that I'll never get back) and my favourite Coen's film is actually The Hudsucker Proxy - which even the Coen's themselves aren't overly fond of! But of all their films, O Brother Where Art Thou is probably most similar to The Hudsucker Proxy in tone - there is something most bizarre about an almost gentle tale from another era interspersed with the most surreal (and typically Coen's) humour. You can also see the influence of The Big Lebowski, you can tell that they really enjoyed the musical parts of it and O Brother Where Art Thou builds on that, becoming as close as they'll ever get to a full blown musical (possibly only the Coens could get away with a Klu Klux Klan dance number...).

Clooney is fantastic, he has great comedic talents (and demonstrates previously unhinted-at dance skills), but this really is an ensemble piece with fine performances from John Tutturo, Tim Blake Nelson (who I can't remember seeing before) and that Hudsucker fave Charles Durning. Overall this was a truly fantastic film and I haven't laughed so hard in ages, because at the end of the day, this is definitely a film that goes in the box marked "Comedy". So for all you Coen's fans, and anyone who fancies seeing something a bit different - go and check out this film!

The film also features the best use of a frog since Magnolia...

Dalek

PS Thanks for the tip about the Jerry Goldsmith concerts at the Barbican - we went along and had a great time.

“O Brother, Where Art Thou?” Review - Contains Spoilers

I walked out of this movie with a big goofy smile on my face. I am always amazed at how many changes the Coen Brothers can ring on the crime/corruption theme. I knew this was a retelling of Homer’s Odyssey. And I knew it starred George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Nelson as refugees from a chain gang searching for treasure. I expected it to be funny and it certainly is.

I didn’t expect it to be a musical. I didn’t expect it to be the best movie musical I’ve seen since the early ‘80’s. (I’ve got a soft spot for Fame and The Blues Brothers.) The beauty of this movie is that it wasn’t until half an hour into it, when our heroes were singing on the radio to make a quick buck that I realized that people had been breaking into song all over the place. And that’s what made it work, every song fits. People are singing on the chain gang, at baptisms, weddings, political rallys, you name it. But it always works within the plot. And it’s sweet. Spirituals and blue grass, mostly.

Clooney is brilliant in this, very different than anything he’s done yet. He comes across a bit like he’s auditioning for the part of Ed Wood. (But that might just be the dentures.) He has a rapid fire delivery and an innocence that is very funny. All three are innocents, Nelson the simplest of the three. He is brilliant in this, his character is noble and kind and dopey, but you believe in him. That’s the beauty of the writing, the three are babes in the woods and there is slapstick and cruelty to animals but you root for them because they have shadings of character. Turturro suffers so well. He’s like one big exposed nerve sometimes.

I won’t give away too much of the plot because it’s the unusual situations that make it so much fun, but I will take a leaf from “The Making of The Big Lebowski” by William Preston Robertson. (I’ve always assumed that’s another Coen pseudonym. Does anyone know?) In this book 6 “motifs” are described that you can use to identify your basic Coen Bros. movie. “O Brother” has 4.

1.Howling Fat Men - 2 in this case. John Goodman (the ultimate Coes Bros. HFM) as Big Dan the one-eyed Bible salesman and Michael Badalucco as “Baby Face” Nelson.

2.Blustey Titan - Charles Durning (promoted from HFM in Hudsucker) as Senator Pappy O’Daniel.

3.Vomiting - None, surprisingly, considering that our heroes eat squirrel and horse meat.

4.Violence - Yes. Lots of shooting and burning.

5. Dreams - no, but a possible vision of seductive sirens washing out their laundry in the river like a Levi ad.

6.Peculiar Haircuts - Oh, yes. Tuturro’s is almost all shaved off, Nelson’s is a pudding bowl cut and Clooney has a hair gel fetish that mines some wonderful comedy.

Enjoy, enjoy.

Mycroft