Alright folks... Double Coen duty on this posting. First up, over at Movie-List.Com, they currently have the newly new badass wonderous beauty to behold trailer for this the greatest looking movie like well... you know you'll see. Alright... Next up we have this review from Batutta... and he feels that O BROTHER is a disappointing Coen film like MILLER'S CROSSING and THE BIG LEBOWSKI... ahem... (SARCASM) Youuuuuuu knoooooooowwwww, the lessssssoooooorrrr COEN filmssssssss, yeaaaaaaaaaahhhhh, riiiiiiiiiiiight. So knowing that this fella isn't the biggest fan of FARGO, MILLER'S CROSSING and BLOOD SIMPLE (go see the special edition now in theaters) and BIG LEBOWSKI (a work of genius)... weellll, ya mights wants to take what it is he says with big heaping spoonfuls of rock salt. Here ya go and beware of spoilers...
BATUTTA (The rabid Michael Bay hater)
I saw O' Brother last week, (If you want to know how, e-mail me) and I'm sadly reporting it's not one of their best films. Let me state I'm a HUGE Coen Brother's fan. RAISING ARIZONA may just be my favorite comedy of all time, I really like BARTON FINK, admire but am not crazy about FARGO, MILLER S CROSSING and BLOOD SIMPLE, and then have big reservations about THE BIG LEBOWSKI and HUDSUCKER PROXY.
Unfortunately, O'BROTHER WHERE ART THOU falls into the last category of their films. Granted, lame Coen Brothers is better than most people's best efforts (LEBOWSKI and HUDSUCKER are still immensely watchable) but the film just doesn't work as a whole. Like THE BIG LEBOWSKI, it's jam packed with great stuff -- great characters, great dialogue, great cinematography, great music, but unfortunately, like the Big Lebowski, all this great stuff hangs on a meandering and unwieldy story.
While inspired by The Oddessy, the Coen Bros. make a fatal error with their lead character Ulysees (played by George Clooney like George Clooney doing Johnny Depp's Ed Wood). Much like The Dude in LEBOWSKI, Ulysees doesn't do much as a character. The story isn't driven by him as much as it happens to him, and too many plot threads are resolved by coincidence or the character's inept bumbling. This worked much better in The Big Lebowski, mainly because it was the whole point of The Dude's character. He was the penultimate slacker, content to just go with the flow of life with minimal effort. The problem with O' BROTHER is that they used a heroic story structure, then stuck an unheroic character in the lead. You end up with a story that's constantly working against itself and develops in a wholly unsatisfying manner, spinning it's wheels for two hours to get us absolutely nowhere. Of course, the Coen Bros. being the geniuses they are, the voyage down that meandering road is filled with lots of diversions. George Clooney, even though his character is difficult to sympathize with, gives one of his best performances.
The musical interludes interspersed throughout are delightful, and it has one of the spookiest depictions of a KLU KLUX KLAN rally I've ever seen (which pays off with the soon to be classic line "They desecrated a flaming cross!").
However, what didn't work at all for me was the entire political subplot with the Governor's race, which bogged the story down and seemed a very arbitrary way to resolve the plot. There's also a pointless subplot involving bank robber Baby Face Nelson (well played by the Italian guy on THE PRACTICE who's name escapes me). Again, let me state this film is still very watchable, like most of the Coen Bros. stuff. As a piece of craftsmanship it's top notch, and the performance throughout are all very funny. But the movie just doesn't work, and unfortunately for them I suspect it won't make a dime. I hope they have better luck with their next project (A black and white film noir -- I'M SO THERE!)
