I saw this film the other day and enjoyed it. For those that don’t know it is based on Homer’s Oddessey. While it has been about five years since I’ve read it, there were points where I wondered where they corresponded to the Oddessy. (Mainly the baptism and KKK meeting). I also wondered where the other prominenet part of the Oddessy where: Scylla and Charibdis? the suitors for his wife?
I did like that the fugitives are not able to win like in the Oddessy. (Getting beat up by the Cyclops and seduced by the Sirens}. So, what did everyone else think?
Amazing music! Loved how the words to the tunes were part of the meaning of the film, but it wasn’t completely blatent, more nudging your mind in a certain direction. The Cohen brothers don’t miss anything. I’m going to be chewing on that one for a while!
What I liked (and what made it work for me as a reflection of the ‘original’) was how my reactions to the story were so like my reactions to the Odyssey - the hair-pulling, ‘no-no-NO, don’t get distracted by … AAHHHHHH! you are never going to get home if you keep running off every time something new comes up … Damn, there he goes again’ thing, at the same time as being willingly dragged into the thrill of the next scrape. What a fun ride.
I find Clooney irritating, but I did manage to forget that it was him.
My wife and I saw it in England some time ago (I find it strange that it was released in the UK a few months before it was released in the US–usually it’s the other way around). I thought it was particularly interesting that the Coens threw in various bits of “legendary” history from the South (Robert Johnson “selling his soul to the devil” to play the guitar better; George “Babyface” Nelson having hangups about his nickname) to add to the mix.
Watching the film encouraged my wife to read The Odyssey (I read it as an undergraduate). I hope it does/did the same for you Dopers!
The Odyssey connection is like the true account on which Fargo was based. Very loose indeed.
My GF and I loved it and the music is fantastic. In fact, I just bought the movie sound track today.
I have noticed that the reviews for the movie have been not just mixed but polarized. One critic put “O’ Brother” on his top ten list another called it one of the year’s worst and described it as “unwatchable”.
It’s certainly not to everyone’s liking (though what movie really is?). I thought that folks who liked “Being John Malkovich” would go for this type of comedy but I’m not too sure that’s right since I didn’t much care for “Malkovich” at all. For that reason, though I enjoyed the movie immensely, I’m not too sure I would necessarily recommend it to everyone.
Lastly, here’s hoping to see the film, the brothers Cohen, and the leads properly mentioned at Oscar time.