O Brother, Where Art Thou?

2000
US
1h 47min
12

Directed by: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen (uncredited)
Written by: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Cast: George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, John Goodman, Holly Hunter, Charles Durning

Preston Sturges' Sullivan's Travels and Homer's The Odyssey are the starting points for this 30s-set screwball comedy. Smooth-talking Everett Ulysees McGill (Clooney), simpleton Delmar (Nelson) and maladjusted Pete (Turturro) are members of a chain gang on the run looking for buried loot. Their journey up and down the state of Mississippi brings them into contact with assorted eccentrics based on Homer's mythological figures. A lighter work for the Coens, more Raising Arizona than Fargo, but it's still a rare treat. A truly captivating confederacy of dunces.