Three bumbling country fed nincompoops led by the confounded rapscallion Ulysses Everett McGill escape from a Mississippi chain gang and brave hell and high water to return home to their self-appointed leaders' sweetheart. Sometimes movies are best left in the time and place you first met them and I was disappointed when I found some of the fun taken out of O Brother, Where Art Thou? my last time through. During this go round the laughs seemed scant and George Clooney struggled with his southern accent while the Coen Brothers were unable to find direction for their desultory riff on The Odyssey. It is possible, since I am in the minority of those who don't find Raising Arizona to be comic gold exactly that I just don't care for their flat out screwball stuff. O Brother still has its moments and the bluegrassy soundtrack is still worthy of all its accolades.
