O Brother!

You wouldn't expect a movie set in the American south during the years of the Great Depression to be funny. It turns out that it can be done, and done well. O Brother, Where Art Thou? by The Coen Brothers is the movie that portrays the financially depressed, emotionally broke, socially racist Southern USA with humor. The adventures of Everett, Delmar, and Pete—George Clooney, Tim Blake Nelson, and John Turturro respectively—and an assortment of supporting characters (played magnificently by Holly Hunter, John Goodman, and many others) provide a surprisingly good time from beginning to end.

Everett, Delmar, and Pete are buddies, mostly by the unusual circumstance that they are linked together in a prison chain gang. Together they make their escape. Together they flee. And after breaking their shackles, together they seek the treasure that Everett has made their quest. And although Delmar's soul is cleansed and he is no longer a sinner; Pete is captured, whipped, and reveals the trio's plan; and the “treasure” is only Everett's wife's wedding ring left in their abandoned family cabin located in a valley scheduled to be flooded, the three men remain constantly committed to their quest.

Because the movie loosely mimics Odysseus's (aka Ulysses's) trip in Homer's Odyssey—Everett's first name is actually Ulysses!—our triad's escape from the chain gang is only the beginning of an epic voyage, both physical (across long distances) and mental (coming to major realizations about love, life, and the pursuit of happiness). They meet people and have experiences similar to Ulysses' ten-year return home after the ten-years-long Trojan war, though they take far fewer than ten years. They are influenced by a blind seer, tempted by three sirens laundering at a river side, and threatened by a cyclops. They get driven off course, captured, and forced to backtrack. They suffer abuse and get help. Still, they reach their goal, and Everett reunites with his wife Penny (Get it? Penny!) and their children after fighting off her suitor.

Historical figures, real events, and the actualities of life of the Depression-Era South impact the shenanigans that the three fugitives witness, suffer, get into, and perpetrate. Farmers lose their land, money, and homes; banks are robbed; inhabited land is flooded; confidence men work their wickedness; and deals are made with the Devil. Politicians and kin lie and betray. And a boy band makes it big. Every bit of it is laughable, as only the Coens can make it, even the potentially charged scene of a KKK ceremony with a planned lynching and all. (It's successfully thwarted by our bumbling fugitives.)

As you can probably guess, any movie with the scope of an epic journey, offers a plethora of “little wisdoms.” A lot happens in O Brother, Where Art Thou? and a lot is said, so there is a lot to incorporate into everyday life. Look forward to many posts about lessons from this comedy!