O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
Lots of respectable people have been hit by trains.
THE SUMMARY: A trio of prison escapees led by one charismatic man who dupes the other two with promises of treasure and riches flees across Great Depression Mississippi to reunite with the man’s wife, all to become an unlikely smash-hit boy band in the end. A lot to love and not much to hate - great writing and a great soundtrack highlight an enjoyable watch.
FROM MOVIE-PICKER AMANDA: This movie is a great retelling of The Odyssey, set in the Depression era of 1937, in rural Mississippi. It has great music, an absolutely fantastic cast (sorry Blonde, no Mel Gibson though), and is as well done as it is enjoyable. Everyone I’ve ever met who’s seen it has loved it. I'm no exception here.
THE BEST:
Well written one-liners: The script is full of a lot of great lines I was writing down throughout watching. ‘It’s a fool that looks for logic in the chambers of the human heart,’ Everett says to get out of Pete’s anger for stealing from his family. ‘Don’t matter how stumpy!’ Pappy exclaims in response to the idea that his campaign adopt its own midget. ‘Plenty of respectable people have been hit by trains,’ Penny says to defend her explanation for Everett’s disappearance. There are a lot of charming quips in the dialogue, and they are funny about minor topics, but it’s on the deeper themes that the writing gets even better.
Well written deeper themes: O Brother has great writing on deeper matters of life lessons and wisdom: the nature of women, justice, morality, and more.
Never trust a woman (even though you have to): There’s a dialogue between Everett and Delmar in the movie theater. Everett says ‘never trust a female, Delmar. Remember that one simple precept and your time with me will not have been ill spent.’ He adds ‘truth means nothing to a woman, Delmar. Triumph of the subjective… Believe me, Delmar. Woman is the most fiendish instrument ever devised to bedevil the days of man.’
There’s a fascinating contradiction here, but somehow all of it is true too. Everett’s point about women and subjectivity over truth is all but undeniable, and yet even Everett doesn’t take his own advice about never trusting women. The whole point of the movie is his quest to reunite with his wife, who he trusts to remain loyal to him. She initially rejects him, but true to his prophecy, she changes her mind and returns to him, but not because of any loyalty to the basic principles of marriage and parenthood. She only returns to him because of his new riches and fame.
Fundamentally, this was a more artful presentation of the classic saying: ‘women - can’t live with ‘em. Can’t live without ‘em.’ If ever there was a context in which contradictory premises can be simultaneously true, it would be females.
The origin of the law and morality: When the Sheriff confronts Everett, Pete, and Delmar, Everett insists on their innocence by telling him they’ve been pardoned. ‘It ain’t the law!’ Everett pleads. ‘The law? The law is a human institution,’ the Sheriff dismisses, before he moves to execute them, but is interrupted by the flood.
It’s interesting commentary on the origin and nature of the law versus morality. The law in the legal/government sense is certainly a human creation, but the natural law or the moral framework that governs the world is not. It’s something pre-existing. That’s why we can act within the law and still be profoundly immoral. In this context, at least from the Sheriff’s perspective, it’s also why acting outside of the law can be a moral necessity.
It’s because fundamentally the law and morality are different things. The law may be a rough sketch of morality, but it is certainly not its origin or definition.
The contemptable nature of politicians: It’s notable that both politician characters are absolute scumbags. Homer Stokes is a lynch mob leader, and deceptive about it. Pappy O’Daniel seizes the success of the Soggy Bottom Boys for his own political gain, not for any larger principle. If the Soggy Bottom Boys were not a political opportunity for Pappy, he never would have pardoned them. Both politicians are constantly posturing for personal gain on the backs of or at the expense of others. They may both be caricatures, but they are both only a short distance from the truth.
Never trust a female.
Don’t matter how stumpy!
‘Edgy’ topics done fun: This movie presented ‘edgy’ topics like a KKK rally and midget jokes in a fun way that even though it’s completely innocent, likely could not be done 20 years later. These things have become unjokeables, even though this movie is a perfect example of how they can be light-hearted and relevant to a story. Not that they should have to be light-hearted and fun, but the point is not everything is a presentation in ‘hate’ and ‘bigotry’ as we’re now supposed to believe.
Great soundtrack: There’s a reason the movie’s soundtrack is one of the best selling of all time - in addition to adding to the overall feel of the movie, it’s just great music. The soundtrack went platinum eight times, and won several awards, including on re-issue in 2011.
The ‘get off my lawn’ kid: I loved the early scene with ‘Little Hogwallop’ or ‘Boy Hogwallop,’ Pete’s cousin’s son. I always attribute the ‘get off my lawn’ M1 Garand tactic to Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino, but I guess Little Hogwallop was first. I can only hope my own son grows up to have such supreme defensive instincts.
You men from the bank?
And here I thought Clint was the original.
THE WORST:
Nothing, really - I just didn’t love it: File this one under movies that I think are great, but not necessarily on my best ever list. It’s not for any clear fault, really. It’s just not quite on the level of entertainment or thrill or laughs or deep thought to earn my highest rating.
An obscure title: I gather the title, like the story overall, is a reference to another work (Homer’s Odyssey for the story, and a fictitious Great Depression novel from the 1941 movie Sullivan’s Travels for the title). I’m not sure if the fictitious book has any actual crossover with this story, but the O Brother title is long, odd, and has no apparent relevance to the story or its themes. It doesn’t make it a bad movie, of course - but it does make it awkward to say and it’s tough to understand what the movie is about on first encounter. Don’t judge a book by its cover though, they say.
I suggest The Jailbreak Journey to the Surprise KKK Hoedown as an alternative title.
THE RATING: 4/5 Wickies. Well written. Well performed. Well everything. I may not completely love this movie, but it’s a lot closer than hate. Hard for me to imagine anybody despising O Brother.
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NEXT WEEK: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
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