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Movies / On DVD / O Brother, Where Art Thou?
O Brother, Where Art Thou?

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O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)

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Reviews Counted:33

Fresh:23

Rotten:10

Average Rating:6.6/10

Consensus: 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.

Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] some violence and language

Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins

Genre: Comedies

Theatrical Release:Dec 22, 2000 Limited

Box Office: $45,150,731

Synopsis: Joel and Ethan Coen transport Homer's ODYSSEY to the depression-era South in the silly, fun comedy O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? George Clooney, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson star as three... Joel and Ethan Coen transport Homer's ODYSSEY to the depression-era South in the silly, fun comedy O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? George Clooney, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson star as three escaped fugitives on the run in Mississippi. Their adventures through the barren landscape includes run-ins with a soothsayer, a trio of Sirens, a Bible-salesman Cyclops, as well as other archetypes from Southern folklore and pop-culture including a young blues musician, the Klan, and bank robber Baby Face Nelson. Soon they are caught up in a vicious gubernatorial campaign that would make Huey Long proud. The Coen brothers mix in a host of cinematic references in O BROTHER, including SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS, COOL HAND LUKE, I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG, and even dashes of the Three Stooges. The soundtrack of folk ballads, yodeling traditionals, Delta blues, and prison work songs is outstanding, playing in the background (or foreground) of nearly every scene. Clooney, as the ringleader, displays an effervescent smile that is as intoxicating as the Coens' script is outrageous. The cast, including Holly Hunter, Charles Durning, John Goodman, Chris Thomas King, and Michael Badalucco, is charmingly bewildering in a way that only a Coen brothers' cast can be. Joel and Ethan have done it again, crafting this time a unique film steeped in the traditions of the South--and of Hollywood itself. [More]

Starring: George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, John Goodman

Starring: George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, John Goodman, Holly Hunter, Michael Badalucco, Chris Thomas King, Charles Durning, Daniel Von Bargen, Stephen Root, John McConnell, Musetta Vander, Mia Tate, Christy Taylor, Wayne Duvall, J. R. Horne, Brian Reddy, Frank Collison

Director: Joel Coen

Director: Joel Coen
Screenwriter: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Producer: Ethan Coen
Composer: T Bone Burnett
Studio: Buena Vista Pictures

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Nov 6, 2003

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Reviews for O Brother, Where Art Thou?

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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After making what are still probably their two best features, the Coen brothers came up with their worst, a piece of pop nihilism.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
11/07/07
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

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

Full Review Source: New York Magazine | comment Comment
09/26/02
Peter Rainer
Peter Rainer
New York Magazine
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It's a wild, whacked-out wonder.

Full Review Source: Rolling Stone | comment Comment
02/06/01
Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone
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Leaves a sour taste.

Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
01/12/01
Susan Stark
Susan Stark
Detroit News
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You have to admire how deep and irreverently O Brother goes into our culture to find its material.

Full Review Source: Denver Post | comment Comment
01/12/01
Steven Rosen
Steven Rosen
Denver Post
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This is the funniest Coen brothers movie since 1996's Fargo.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
01/12/01
Eric Harrison
Eric Harrison
Houston Chronicle
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O Brother itself is just frustrating, mostly because we know what the Coens are capable of when truly inspired.

comment Comment
01/12/01
Terry Lawson
Terry Lawson
Detroit Free Press
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Devilishly delightful.

comment Comment
01/12/01
Steven Rea
Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer
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Praiseworthy.

Full Review Source: San Jose Mercury News | comment Comment
01/12/01
Bruce Newman
Bruce Newman
San Jose Mercury News
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An especially elaborate variation on Hee Haw.

Full Review Source: CNN.com | comment Comment
01/12/01
Paul Tatara
Paul Tatara
CNN.com
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A giddy merriment blessed with the Coens' skewed signature wit and the year's best soundtrack.

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
01/11/01
Jane Sumner
Jane Sumner
Dallas Morning News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Mixing dark humor with high spirits, the brothers take some wild risks that pay off surprisingly well.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
01/11/01
Steve Murray
Steve Murray
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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The surprise is how much fruitful digression such plotlessness makes possible. With no particular place to go, this hobo of a movie is free to roam the damnedest places.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
12/29/00
Geoff Pevere
Geoff Pevere
Toronto Star
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A Coen brothers' also-ran is better than some filmmakers' best.

Full Review Source: Associated Press | comment Comment
12/29/00
Matt Wolf
Matt Wolf
Associated Press
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Joyously unhinged and outrageously inventive.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
12/29/00
Edward Guthmann
Edward Guthmann
San Francisco Chronicle
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Before it's all over, the real siren songs of time and place turn the visual kitsch into a distilled Americana that's unexpectedly stirring.

comment Comment
12/29/00
Jay Carr
Jay Carr
Boston Globe
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I had the sense of invention set adrift; of a series of bright ideas wondering why they had all been invited to the same film.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment 2 Comments
12/29/00
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
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As a Coen brothers fan I hate to say this, but the movie's a collection of great bits and pieces rather than a complete work.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
12/29/00
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Washington Post
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It's a new new thing, classic myth from both literature and the movies, commingled, set to great folk music, and untrammeled by any sense of predictability, urgency, realism or believability but hypnotic, graceful and seductive.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
12/29/00
Stephen Hunter
Stephen Hunter
Washington Post
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A cockeyed marvel of a comedy packed with amazing set pieces and glorious music.

comment Comment
12/28/00
Michael Wilmington
Michael Wilmington
Chicago Tribune
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Latest News for O Brother, Where Art Thou?

November 07, 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 this Friday riding a wave of huge expectations. The Cormac McCarthy-based... More...

July 27, 2007: Cool New Cast Member for The Incredible Hulk
And the casts for the new Marvel movies just keep getting better and better. This time around? The multi-talented Tim Blake Nelson has been cast as a pivotal villain in Louis... More...

February 02, 2006: Coens Aim to Tackle New "Country"
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Joel & Ethan Coen's next film will be an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's "No Country for Old Men." Word is that Tommy Lee... More...

September 07, 2005: Clooney & Coens to Reunite for "Hail Caesar"
Apparently the latest issue of Vogue Magazine is being credited with the scoop, but fansite CoenBrothers.net broke the news about two months ago: George Clooney plans to reunite... More...

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