Film

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Name: O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Crime
Released: 2000
Cast: George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, John Goodman, Holly Hunter

A chain-gang trio bluff, bicker and stumble their way across Depression-era Mississippi in the Coen Brothers' loosest, warmest film — a screwball retelling of Homer's Odyssey sung through bluegrass, KKK rallies and a very confident George Clooney. It's shaggy, quotable, gorgeously shot and never quite sure if it's a comedy about tragedy or the reverse. Ideal for anyone who wants their comfort watch to also have opinions about hair pomade.

TMDb rating

7.3

If you liked this

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The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Sullivan's Travels1941

O Brother's title is the fictional 'serious' film its director-hero wants to make in this movie — the Coens are quoting it directly, and it shares the same Depression-set collision of comedy and real suffering.

The Depression-era comedy that literally gave O Brother its title — a Hollywood director sets out to make a serious film about suffering and ends up on a chain gang himself. Sharp, funny, and unexpectedly moving.

But Black-and-white and eighty years old; some of its social attitudes show their age.

The Sting1973

A Depression-era con-man caper with the same rambling charm, period detail and pleasure in watching not-quite-honest men talk their way out of trouble.

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Paper Moon1973

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Inside Llewyn Davis2013

Another Coen film built around American folk music, this time mournful rather than madcap, but sharing that same devotion to a song as a story's beating heart.

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Cold Mountain2003

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Nebraska2013

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But Contemporary and much slower — no chase, no music, just conversation and silence.

The Odyssey1997no page yet

O Brother borrows its entire structure — Cyclops, sirens, a wife under siege — from the Odyssey. This is the same myth engine with the comedy stripped out and the mythology left standing.

A straight-faced fantasy-adventure miniseries retelling Homer's original story that the Coens were riffing on — gods, monsters, a long journey home, played entirely earnestly.

But Very 1990s TV-movie effects and pacing; no jokes, no bluegrass, just epic sincerity.

American Epic2016no page yet

Tommy Johnson's crossroads myth and the film's entire soundtrack draw straight from this real musical history — this show is the true, unvarnished story behind the joke.

A documentary series on the real recording expeditions that captured early blues, folk and gospel music across the Depression-era South — the actual history behind the sound the film borrows so lovingly.

But It's a serious historical documentary, not a comedy, and demands patience for archival detail.