George Clooney In The Coen Brother's "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" (One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (DVD))

Member Name: wampyrii

Product:	One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (DVD)
Date:	06/10/01 (46 review reads)
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The Coen brothers are certainly some of the most inventine and inspired directors knocking around Hollywood today. Equally I would have to say that I am NOT a fan of their work, despite the critical acclaim that everything they touch seems to receive. I didn't like Fargo at all and found The Bid Lebowski to be...well tiresome, but then I seem to be in something of a minority there. Knowing that they had directed this movie didn't really fill me with much confidence that I was going to enjoy it but I was intrigued by the trailers and I was equally intrigued to see George Clooney again, an actor who has surprised the hell out of me by actually being pretty damn good when I was sure he would bomb on the silver screen. I rented the movie, sat down and was glued to it from start to finish - trust me, it is simply superb.

The whole plot is loosely inspired by Homer's Odyssey, a tagline which has probably done much to keep the cinema and video viewing audiences away rather than help its sales. Don't be fooled into thinking that this s some high-brow voring piece of entertainment aimed only at those with a PHd in Greek classics because it certainly isn't. In fact, when they say loosely, loosely is exactly what they mean, you would not recognise the influence of Homer unless you specifically went looking for it, and there is no need to know anything about the Odyssey to understand the movie either. What the movie is actually about is three escaped convicts on a quest to find hidden treasure buried somewhere in Mississippi. Ulysses McGill(George Clooney) is serving a life sentence of hard time on a chain gang in the deep south, chained together with grumpy Pete and the Delmar who is as thick as they come. Seeing a chance to escape he convinces his rather dense sidekicks to come along with him using thi lure of gold and fortune to get them moving and they set out across Mississippi in a weird and wonderful voyage.

It doesn't sound much
but trust me, its great stuff. Clooney seems more and more like Clarke Gable every time you see him these days, playing here a con man who has a great way with words and an obsession for his fine head of hair. Its another superb performance from him and again he plays a completely different character to those he has played before proving exactly what a talent he is. His character may talk the talk but he is actually as dense as his two sidekicks in actuality which is a trait which becomes obvious as the movie progresses. The set pieces are hilarious and bizarre as are the characters they meet along the way. All this IS inspired by Homer's Odyssey, a group of washerwomen representing the sirens, a Coen favourite John Goodman playing a one-eyed psychotic Bible salesman in a thinly veiled nod towards Polyphemus the Cyclops. However the finest moment has to be the KKK meeting which flirts outrageously with bad taste and is absolutely hilarious.

It is simply wonderful, and beautifully shot as well with sepia overtones to give the feel on the era in which it is set. The soundtrack too is awesome, with Clooney doing a great turn as a singing star - the boys releasing their own record along the way(!)...although I am sure he was dubbed(or we are going to see a second career emerging soon because his voice is damn good). I can't recommend this movie highly enough, it is simply brilliant, and worth seeing just for Clooney's performance alone.

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