Opens December 22, 2000

Ever since Fargo, the Coens seem to have gone for more style than substance, still imbuing their films with that grand mythic quality but falling short in the depth of story and conflict. Fans who rush out to see the brothers' falteringly epic O Brother Where Art Thou? will likely experience the gamut of reactions from awe at the Coen's visual acuity and prowess with dialogue to disappointment over the eventual outcome of what could have been a grand film. Instead, like its hero, the film is all clever talk and little substance.

The title credits claim that the story is based on Homer's classical adventure travelogue The Odyssey. It's an admirable decision to say the least, but one that hardly pays off. There's a clear reference to Homer's hero Odysseus in the name of the film's main character Ulysses Everett McGill (George Clooney), Ulysses being the Roman name for Homer's homesick hero. As Everett, Clooney commands the screen, spinning the Coen's honey-tongued ramblings with such natural bluster that it's hard to believe he isn't this character. In many ways, Clooney's brash, goofy and heartfelt performance is one of the best parts of this brash, goofy film.

Unlike Odysseus, Everett has just escaped from a chain gang with his pals Pete (John Turturro) and Delmar (Tim Blake Nelson). He didn't have much of a choice, since they're shackled together. Like Odysseus, he has a hankering for home and so, with Pete and Delmar at his side, the threesome set out on an odyssey of discovery filled with typically Coen-esque adventures. Unfortunately, only Homeric purists will likely be hip to the classical references, which are few and far between.

As with many classical tales, this one begins with a prophecy from a blind man: ""You will find a fortune but not the fortune you seek." Not an auspicious omen to be sure, but one that reflects clearly on the story soon to unravel. Our boys fall in with bad company on numerous occasions. While avoiding the sinister lawman Cooley (Daniel Von Bargen), they are robbed by eye-patch wearing Bible salesman Big Dan Teague (John Goodman) and seduced by three sensual women washing their laundry in a stream as they sing harmoniously. One-eyed Goodman is a rather subtle stand-in for Odysseus' Cyclops, while the Sirens reference hits us squarely in the face with one of the characters being forced to refer to the winsome laundering lasses as "them sirens". It's sad to note that in today's society, filmmakers like the Coens feel the need to explain their references.

That's as far as the similarities to Homer go, but then, the Coens themselves never claim to have wanted to make a literal adaptation. It's unfortunate, however, considering their vast intellectual and artistic resources, that they couldn't have come a bit closer to the richness of their original inspiration. After all, Homer played with such fascinating adventures in his story from the Lotus Eaters to Circe, the six-headed Scylla to the whirlpool Charybdis. It's disappointing when the Coens -- masters of both the absurd and the soaringly inventive -- refuse to play with these possibilities. Instead, they incorporate a slew of various colorful characters, including real people like Babyface Nelson (Michael Badalucco) and jazz musician Tommy Johnson (Chris Thomas King) whose roles flesh out the heroic tale but fail to elevate it.

Despite the film's seeming lack of purpose, it offers up a perplexing realization. It is infinitely enjoyable, mostly because of the remarkable craft behind it. While Joel and Ethan Coen seem to have grown rather quiescent thanks to their current success, they still emerge head and shoulders above most filmmakers. As a director, Joel Coen has a poetic sensibility that captures the golden glow of the South where the film takes place; his painterly eye makes this movie a visual feast. As a writing team, the Coen's dialogue is almost untouchable, combining flights of fancy and absurd ruminations that make one gasp in delight.

Together, the Coen brothers capture a mystical quality in all their films, this one included, that transports the viewer for as long as the frames flicker on the screen. And so, despite the eventual disappointment that arises at the conclusion of O Brother Where Art Thou?, one can't help but admit that at least the journey itself was one wild ride. And, as in The Odyssey, one that takes its hero home again.