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O Brother, Where Art Thou? 2000 |
Review by Jonathan Cornwell |
Directed by Joel Coen
PG-13, 106 min. (some violence, language) |
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Starring: George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, Charles Durning, John Goodman, M. Badalucco, Holly Hunter
Producer: Ethan Coen
Screenplay: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Distributor: Touchstone Pictures
Released: 12/22/00 (Wide) |
Rating:
  (out of ) |
Set in the Great Depression, three escaped convicts set out to find a hidden treasure in the state of
Mississippi. It has several laughs and some clever plot twists, but is not up to the level of past
Coen efforts such as Fargo or The Big Lebowski. George Clooney is moderately entertaining,
but his surrounding cast is almost more interesting than he is.
We follow Ulysses (Clooney), Delmar (Nelson), and Pete (Turturro) on a journey that takes them on
unexpected detours and adventures that ultimately lead to an empty promise. Although they are hunted
by the authorities, they also manage to bang out a hit song, which they recorded for some money, that in
the end will save them from a return to prison. Cameos from John Goodman, a Bible salesmen who cheats
them, and Holly Hunter, Ulysses' wife, are adaquately entertaining.
The only real problem with this movie is that it never really engages the audience to a degree where we
care whether or not they avoid a return to prison. The acting is good, but it doesn't raise the level of the picture
to, say, the level of a Fargo. But entertaining it is, and in the end that's all that most
audiences are going to care about anyway.
© 2000 Jonathan Cornwell
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| Masterpiece - Classic; Movie perfection |
| Excellent - A Must See; One of the year's best films |
| Good - Highly Recommended |
| Fair - Worth seeing |
| Average - Viewable, but not recommended |
| Below average - View at own risk |
| Poor - Avoid at all costs |
| Very poor - An embarassment to the film industry |
| Zero | Awful - One of the worst films ever made |
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