Anurag Yagnik

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O Brother, Where Art Thou?

This picture is about three convicts that escape the farms in the great (so called) old state of Mississippi in the 1920s to collect the loot hidden away by the leader, a man called Everett Ulysses McGill.

Loosely based on Homer's Odyssey, Mr. Coen does a great job in making us fall in love with the often silly and cantakarous characters in the film. Mr. Coen is very careful in injecting humour -- both situational and linguistic. The movie is also a visual masterpiece. A work of art that was carefully nurtured and done to perfection to match the rugged dusty summer of Mississippi.

Of course, the adventures of these men are not entirely unhelpful. These men fall from one jam into another almost always on the verge of death before a twist of fate would pluck them out and throw them toward the next roller coaster. The three mean, Ulysses and his two dim-wited associates, are petty conmen always ready to make a quick buck. However they are also easily lured into self-destruction. The picture is very clear, almost deliberately, about making us understand that its the fate and not these men that is saving them and keeping them on the run.

The deliberately overdone southern accent makes the dialogue unbearably funny and picturesque. We feel the movie is an an older period than it is. We feel there is too much for us to catch and enjoy. We know that in order to get all the fun out of the dialogue, we will probably be seeing it again.

T-Bone Brunett (Music) and Chris Thomas King (Song) are clearly the show stealers. The music and he songs and the ambiance thus created is nothing short of miraculous. The music serves as the backbone of the movie and the characters really all they need to do is ride the wave and keep going. The song 'Man of constant sorrow' will definetly go down as one of the great movie songs.

For George Clooney, this is a brilliant role, possibly his best. It is not often that this fine actor gets half a chance to perform. He is very good her. A confused, weak man but very motivated and of course lucky.

John Turturro as the over zealous firend and Tim Blake Nelson as the frighteningly dumb and simple Delmar is another jewel in Mr. Coen's crown.

There isn't much to think here. Just sit back and enjoy. The movie is like a pretty picture, carefully tucked in a museum simply for its beauty and not necessarily for its message.