O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
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77% of critics liked it
(149 reviews) -
87% of users liked it
(226,019 ratings)
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… More 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 stranger soon warns them that they'll find treasure, but not the sort they're looking for. As Everett and his partners hit the road, they happen upon a gluttonous bible salesman, Big Dan Teague (John Goodman); meet up with Baby Face Nelson (Michael Badalucco) as he robs a bank; encounter three Sirens doing their washing; run into Everett's estranged wife Penny (Holly Hunter), who has told everyone her husband was killed in a train wreck; find themselves in the middle of a heated campaign between political boss Pappy O'Daniel (Charles Durning), and reformist candidate Homer Stokes (Wayne Duvall); and even find time to make a hit record as The Soggy Bottom Boys. Noted songwriter T-Bone Burnett helped compile the songs (combining vintage country blues tunes with originals in the same style), while Carter Burwell composed the background score. Incidentally, the title O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a reference to the classic Preston Sturges comedy Sullivan's Travels, in which a director plans to make a serious "message picture" with that name. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Directed By
- Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
- Written By
- Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
- Genres
- Drama, Comedy
- In Theaters
- Dec 22, 2000 Wide
- On DVD
- Jun 12, 2001
- Studio
- Buena Vista
Critic Reviews
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Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
After making what are still probably their two best features, the Coen brothers came up with their worst, a piece of pop nihilism.
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Geoff Andrew, Time Out
Great dialogue, superb 'Scope camerawork from Roger Deakins, and a genuinely wondrous deus ex machina are among the delights.
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Peter Rainer, New York Magazine
The Coens' usual arch deliberateness isn't quite as deliberate, and there's an appealing shagginess to some of the episodes and performances.
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Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee
The film is a mélange of so many clashing ideas, as well as a reference-tribute to so many moments in movie history.
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Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
It's a wild, whacked-out wonder.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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George Clooney
as Everett Ulysses McGill, Ulysses Everett ...
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John Turturro
as Pete
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Tim Blake Nelson
as Delmar
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Charles Durning
as Pappy O'Daniel
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John Goodman
as Big Dan Teague
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Michael Badalucco
as George Nelson
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Holly Hunter
as Penny
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Stephen Root
as Radio Station Man
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Chris Thomas King
as Tommy Johnson
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Wayne Duvall
as Homer Stokes
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Daniel von Bargen
as Sheriff Cooley
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J.R. Horne
as Pappy's Staff
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Brian Reddy
as Pappy's Staff
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Frank Collison
as Wash Hogwallop
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Ray McKinnon
as Vernon T. Waldrip
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Del Pentecost
as Junior O'Daniel
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Musetta Vander
as Siren
- Royce D. Applegate
- Ed Gale


