O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?
Mark R. Leeper
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Capsule: In 1937 Mississippi three
fugitives from a chain gang race to save a
treasure from being flooded by a new dam.
Lacking the power of the best of the Coen
Brothers, this is a sly little Southern Odyssey
with more than its share of chuckles. The story
works only in episodes but the unusual time and
setting and the odd characterization pull the
film along. Rating: 7 (0 to 10), low +2 (-4 to
+4)
The 1941 Preston Sturges comedy SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS told of a
movie director who decided that in the hard depression era, fluffy
comedies just were not what the world needed. He wants to make a
serious film about the down-trodden in the South. When the director
sees the real world he discovers what the world really needs is more
fluffy comedies like . . . well, like that Preston Sturges guy
makes. On to the ash heap go his plans to make the serious and
important film O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? Apparently Joel and Ethan
Coen have decided to make a film called O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?
after all. In spite of the dour title it seems that neither
Sullivan nor the Coens could resist the urge to make fluff that
belies the harsh setting.
The plot is simple enough. We start with a chain gang working
soulfully in the blistering Mississippi sun. Somehow three men have
managed to escape (as convicts always seem to from cinematic chain
gangs) and are hiding in a cornfield. They are hobbled by a chain
around their ankles and betrayed by their telltale broad-striped
prison clothing. There is Everett Ulysses McGill (played by George
Clooney), Pete Hogwollop (John Turturro), and Delmar O'Donnel (Tim
Blake Nelson. The story follows them on a short odyssey into the
poor South past sights and though a series of episodes, some of
which will be drawn together in the final reel. Along the way they
pick up and then lose a black guitarist Tommy Johnson (Chris Thomas
King). They mix into music, and politics; they see a famous
criminal's getaway, a baptism, and a Klan rally. In the end they
have multiple whimsical Dei Ex Machinae. Some of the incidents are
loosely and slightly pretentiously based on episodes of Homer's
Odyssey. Others are inspired by SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS and perhaps bits
of other films set in the Depression-era South like NIGHT OF THE
HUNTER and FOOLS' PARADE and Davis Grubb stories.
The Coen Brothers are, of course, some of the most creative
filmmakers going. This film is released by the unconventional
combination of Touchstone and Universal. Roger Deakins shot the
entire film with washed out colors to give the film something of a
period feel. It works, though I am not sure why. They drop into
scenes 1930s products, particularly hair pomade for the dapper
Ulysses. They avoided two pitfalls here. They used no brands
currently available so they respected their film sufficiently to
avoid product placements. They also avoided that great cliche of
the South, Moon Pies. One cliche they did not avoid is the
choreographed and slightly too poetic chain gang. It always seems
like an appeal to social conscience to show men chained up, though
how different is it from children led together through town on a
rope as we see in the latter portion of the film.
The music by T-Bone Burnett and others becomes an important
element of the film rather than just creating atmosphere for
incidents. The movie is suffused with the "Old Timey" music of the
period which becomes important in the plot. There is a repeating
theme of the characters getting into strange circumstances by
following mystical music coming from the woods. Each time it is
heard the boys will be tested in some way. Tim Blake Nelson is not
one of the more familiar faces on the screen but manages to stand up
with the more popular Clooney and Turturro, though in the musical
scenes he seems relegated to a distinct third place. Also along in
much smaller roles are familiar Coen veterans Charles Durning, John
Goodman, and Holly Hunter.
As a single story, O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? just does not
amount to much. But the individual episodes are entertaining. I
rate it a 7 on the 0 to 10 scale and a low +2 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
mle...@avaya.com
Copyright 2001 Mark R. Leeper
--
Mark R. Leeper, Avaya Inc.--Platform Support Group
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