O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)

Directed by Joel & Ethan Coen. Starring George Clooney, Tim Blake Nelson, John Turturro, Charles Durning, Holly Hunter, Chris Thomas King, John Goodman, Michael Badalucco, Ray McKinnon, Wayne Duvall, Daniel von Bargen, Stephen Root, Lee Weaver, Frank Collison. [PG-13]

Now, if anyone tried to sell me a little FOP pomade, I’d retort, “I don’t want FOP! I’m a Dapper Dan man!” But, damn, we’re in a tight spot when it comes to appraising (and appreciating) the elliptical misadventures of Ulyssess Everett McGill (Clooney) and his runaway convict cronies, Pete (Turturro) and Delmar (Nelson), in Depression-era rural Mississippi. The Coen brothers were in a playfully eccentric mood when they devised this one—with a title borrowed from Sullivan’s Travels and a plotline scheme loosely cribbed from “The Odyssey” (even though the brothers claim to have never actually sat down to read the thing!)—but it’s a gossamer patchwork of outlandish oddballs, episodic encounters, loopy dialogue, and artificially gorgeous imagery, with hardly any cohesive train of thought to pull it all together (even a package of fireside fables need real morals or lessons to keep from floating away with the smoke). There’s mannered expression, but not much soulful appreciation, for this satirical tangle of source inspirations…yet there’s so much “bona fide” whimsy and humor tucked away in the shaggy pockets that it gets away with being a dee-lite in many-a-passing moment, so forget the wishy washy circulation and meager resonance, and eat your stew before the horse meat starts to turn. Traditional folk-and-gospel-heavy soundtrack, arranged by producer T-Bone Burnett, became a surprise multi-platinum hit.

75/100