O
Brother, Where Art Thou? is nearly a camp version
of portions of Homer’s The Odyssey, or so we are told
at the beginning of the film, directed by Joel Coen. When
the film begins, Ulysses Everett McGill (played by George
Clooney), Pete (played by John Turturro), and Delmar (played
by Tim Black Nelson) are escaping from a chain gang in Mississippi
in 1937. (The filming took place in and around Canton and
Yazoo, Mississippi.) The odyssey of the three, who indeed
appear to be the reincarnated Three Stooges, takes them through
many perils. To get the two to join him in the escape, Ulysses
lies about a $1.2 million treasure from a armored truck heist
located in a cabin that is about to be flooded due to construction
of a Tennessee Valley Authority dam, whereas in reality he
wants to become reunited with his wife Penny (Penelope in
Homer’s story) and his brood of daughters. They are taken
beyond bloodhound range by a horse-drawn cart by an African
American, who utters prophesies about their fate, telling
them that they will find treasure but it may not be the treasure
they seek. They stay on the property of a relative of one
of the three escapees, only to be awakened by police, since
the relative turned them in to get the reward; however, they
elude capture and proceed onward. To get some pocket money,
they team up with African American guitarist Tommy Johnson
(played by Chris Thomas King) to cut a record as the Soggy
Bottom Boys. The Sirens, who wash clothes in a stream, mesmerize
the three with song, indeed causing Pete to disappear, presumably
turning into a horny toad. Big Dan Teague (played by John
Goodman) is the one-eyed Cyclops of the tale; he promises
to tell them secrets of how to make big money by selling the
bible to suckers but instead knocks them unconscious and steals
their money, derived from the popular record. When Ulysses
meets up with Penny (played by Holly Hunter), she rejects
him, saying that she has another suitor. Later, Pete returns
to the duo in time to witness a nighttime meeting of the Ku
Klux Klan, headed by a candidate for governor named Homer
Stokes (played by Wayne Duvall). In preparation for a lynching
of Johnson, the klansmen perform a well choreographed ritual
as if providing halftime football entertainment under the
direction of Busby Berkeley. But the trio rescue Johnson and
cut down the burning cross. They then go to an election rally,
perform as the Soggy Bottom Boys to the joy of an audience,
both live and on the radio. When Stokes appears to denounce
them as "not white," the audience boos, Stokes is carried
out, Penny’s suitor is discredited, and incumbent Governor
"Pappy" O’Daniel (played by Charles Durning) takes credit
for the music group’s popularity and pardons the three for
their crimes, followed by a rendition of "You Are My Sunshine."
Ulysses again tries to make up with Penny, but she spurns
him on another pretext. On the road again, they are tracked
down as prison escapees by a posse-leader, Cooley (played
by Daniel Von Bargen), who did not get the word that they
were pardoned because he had no radio; but just before being
executed on the spot, floodwaters engulf the area. The four
emerge from the depths to the surface, and Ulysses again tries
to become reunited with Penny, who again spurns him. For a
film more faithful to the Homeric epic, filmviewers should
rent Ulysses (1967), but for a good laugh O
Brother, Where Art Thou? will more than suffice, especially
if you recall the original story. MH
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