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O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)

tomatometer

77

Average Rating: 7.1/10
Reviews Counted: 147
Fresh: 113 | Rotten: 34

Though not as good as Coen brothers' classics such as Blood Simple, the delightfully loopy O Brother, Where Art Thou? is still a lot of fun.

69

Average Rating: 6.6/10
Critic Reviews: 35
Fresh: 24 | Rotten: 11

Though not as good as Coen brothers' classics such as Blood Simple, the delightfully loopy O Brother, Where Art Thou? is still a lot of fun.

audience

87

liked it
Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 226,019

My Rating

Movie Info

The writing, directing, and producing team of Joel Coen and Ethan Coen created this picaresque comedy (inspired in part by Homer's The Odyssey) set in the Deep South during the Depression. Suave and fancy-talking Everett Ulysses McGill (George Clooney), dim-witted Delmar (Tim Blake Nelson), and easily-excitable Pete (John Turturro) are serving time together on a prison chain gang. Everett knows where $1.2 million is hidden that's theirs for the taking, and the three manage to escape; however, a

PG-13, 1 hr. 46 min.

Drama, Comedy

,

Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

Jun 12, 2001

$45.2M

Buena Vista

Cast

All Critics (149) | Top Critics (36) | Fresh (119) | Rotten (34) | DVD (35)

After making what are still probably their two best features, the Coen brothers came up with their worst, a piece of pop nihilism.

November 7, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comment
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The Coens' usual arch deliberateness isn't quite as deliberate, and there's an appealing shagginess to some of the episodes and performances.

September 26, 2002 Full Review Source: New York Magazine | Comment
New York Magazine
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The film is a mélange of so many clashing ideas, as well as a reference-tribute to so many moments in movie history.

August 6, 2001 Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | Comment
Sacramento Bee
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It's a wild, whacked-out wonder.

February 6, 2001 Comment
Rolling Stone
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Leaves a sour taste.

January 12, 2001 Full Review Source: Detroit News | Comment (1)
Detroit News
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A roller-coaster ride with a goofy fun-house spirit, it's full of clever pranks.

January 12, 2001 Comment
Orlando Sentinel
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Everyone who has the capacity for abstract thought, raise your hands . . . and take this Coen brothers' journey.

December 29, 2011 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis | Comment
Movie Metropolis

This "Lawrence of Arabia of Hayseed Movies" is only marginally noteworthy in the Coens' canon, but the stunning 1080p transfer makes a case for repeat viewings on its aesthetic heft alone.

October 3, 2011 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | Comment
Slant Magazine

Even with its mock-pretentious parallelism to The Odyssey...O Brother, Where Art Thou? refuses to take itself seriously, which is both its principal failing and its charm. [Blu-ray]

September 26, 2011 Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews | Comment

Teens might enjoy this offbeat Odyssey adaptation.

December 26, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment
Common Sense Media

This lightly engaging trifle could have been more fun with a greater helping of the Coens' antic spirit.

February 15, 2010 Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com | Comment
TheMovieReport.com

It has a remarkable (if playfully skewed) fidelity to the epic poem of mythical struggle, even if the filmmaking brother act never actually read Homer's work...

December 6, 2009 Full Review Source: Turner Classic Movies Online | Comment
Turner Classic Movies Online

In its best moments (of which there are a few), O Brother, Where Art Thou? has a twang to it.

August 21, 2009 Full Review Source: City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul | Comment

The Coens are like party acquaintances who keep changing the subject and then staring at you quizzically when you can't follow the thread, or when you stop wanting to follow it, but who then block all your exit routes from their obnoxious conversation.

July 22, 2009 Full Review Source: Nick's Flick Picks | Comment
Nick's Flick Picks

The ferociously one-dimensional characters here make this muddy ramble more of a guilty pleasure than a success.

August 7, 2008 Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | Comment
Sacramento News & Review

It's not up there with Lebowski, but its still a darn good tale.

November 17, 2007 Full Review Source: Dark Horizons | Comment
Dark Horizons

The Coen's tale of three escaped convicts has more to do with Homer the Simpson than Homer the poet.

July 14, 2007 Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound | Comment (1)
Big Picture Big Sound

Great dialogue, superb 'Scope camerawork from Roger Deakins, and a genuinely wondrous deus ex machina are among the delights.

January 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment

its tongue-in-cheek humor effortlessly gives way to poignant drama and period musical pieces throughout.

December 6, 2005 Full Review Source: Cinematic Reflections | Comment

O Brother, Where Art Thou? is amazing.

December 6, 2005 Full Review Source: Film Threat | Comment
Film Threat

Watching Clooney, Turturro, and Nelson ham it up singing 'Man of Constant Sorrow' is one of this year's greatest big-screen delights.

December 6, 2004 Comment
Looking Closer

The Three Stooges meet Homer--sans Jethro

August 14, 2004 Comment
Reel.com

O Brother, Where Art Thou? is the Being John Malkovich of the year 2000. The most remarkable thing about it is just how any sane studio executive agreed to back it.

March 6, 2004 Full Review Source: Film Blather | Comment
Film Blather
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for O Brother, Where Art Thou?

What's relieving about O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? is the fact that it relies on its over-the-top bizarreness to stimulate an audience with laughter. This is set in the 1930s, mind you, and the characters are far enough off the wall to drive US insane with laughter. One character, George ("not Babyface!") Nelson, has

September 10, 2011
spielberg00
Alexander Diminiano

Super Reviewer

They have a plan, but not a clue.Another good movie by the Coen Brothers. The movie I had to admit was better than what I expected, it was an adventure more or less for those 3 escaped convicts. This movie was good but it's one of those movies for me that I would only watch this one time and that's it. Each character

November 28, 2008
xXGiNoBiLiPRXx
Manu Gino

Super Reviewer

    1. George Nelson: Okay, folks, hold the applause and drop your drawers.
    – Submitted by Daniel S (13 days ago)
    1. Pappy's Staff: Well, it's a well run campaign- midget, broom...
    – Submitted by Roobin N (29 days ago)
    1. Ulysses Everett McGill: Well, ain't this place a geographical oddity. Two weeks from everywhere!
    – Submitted by Jane M (3 months ago)
    1. Everett Ulysses McGill: [to Penny] I'll tell you what I am? I'm the damn paterfamilias, you can't marry him?
    – Submitted by Alyssa B (3 months ago)
    1. Penny: [watching Everett and Vermon fight as she talks about Vermon or Everlett] He's not my husband?
    – Submitted by Alyssa B (3 months ago)

Movies Like O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Latest News for O Brother, Where Art Thou?

June 13, 2011:
Coen Brothers Drop Hints About Next Project
It'll have music in it.

November 7, 2007:
Total Recall: Welcome to Coen Brothers Country
Before expanding wide on November 21, No Country for Old Men (90 percent) will play in select cities...

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Foreign Titles

  • O Brother, Where Art Thou? - Eine Mississippi-Odyssee (DE)
  • O'Brother (FR)
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