Director Series: The Coen Bros. O' BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?

It is interesting that on the heels of Christopher Nolan debuting his (successful) film version of Homer’s THE ODYSSEY, that the next Coen Bros’ film in this retrospective is THEIR adaptation of this epic poem, the 2000 film, O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? where the brothers decide to set this story in the depression era South of the 1930’s.

Did it succeed? Let me put it this way - the whole does not add up to the some of it’s parts.

Let’s start with the part that works the best - the music of this film (curated by the great T Bone Burnett). This film sprinkles in a collection of traditional roots, bluegrass, country and gospel music and it works very, very well and elevates this film a level above where it otherwise would have landed.

What else works? The setting. Lifting the goings-on of this work from ancient Greece to depression-era Mississippi is an inspired choice and gives a unique spin on the themes of loyalty, hospitality and homecoming.

Also working well is the All-Star list of supporting characters, from Coen Bros. favorite John Goodman (THE BIG LEBOWSKI amongst others) Cyclops-inspired character, to Holly Hunter (the Coen Bros. RAISING ARIZONA), Penny to Charles Durning (the Coen Bros. THE HUDSUCKER PROXY) to “new to the Coen Bros.”, the always good Stephen Root (Milton from OFFICE SPACE), they each give strong performance in their brief moments on screen.

And then there is the performance of the 3 leads: George Clooney (OUT OF SIGHT), Coen Bros. regular John Turturro (BARTON FINK) and the always interesting Tim Blake Nelson (THE THIN RED LINE). All 3 are unique, quirky and interesting to watch.

And therein lies the problem with this film, NONE of these individual attributes gels with the other ones to develop into an engaging motion picture. The story is a series of escapades of our returning trio trying to return home and it feels like a series of escapades, not tying together with the other ones.

The fault, of course, in this is the Direction of the Coen Bros. who were (probably - and rightfully - so) enjoying the performances of the individual scenes but not really figuring out a way for them to connect to each other.

Another issue IS the performances of the 3 leads, they are interesting, quirky and intriguing to watch - but they keep you at arm’s length (especially Clooney). One is always marveling at the performances of the 3, but one is not drawn INTO their performances…and that’s a problem, for you never become emotionally engaged with these characters - or this film

Go for the craft - and the individual scenes - and REALLY enjoy the music…oh and there’s a film in there somewhere…maybe.

Letter Grade: B

7 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)

Next Month: THE MAN WHO WASN’T THERE (2001)