O Brother, Where Art Thou?

The writing, directing, and producing team of Joel Coen and Ethan Coen created this picaresque comedy (inspired in part by Homer's The Odyssey ) set in the Deep South during the Depression. Suave and fancy-talking Everett Ulysses McGill ( George Clooney ), dim-witted Delmar ( Tim Blake Nelson ), and easily-excitable Pete ( John Turturro ) are serving time together on a prison chain gang. Everett knows where $1.2 million is hidden that's theirs for the taking, and the three manage to escape; however, a stranger soon warns them that they'll find treasure, but not the sort they're looking for. As Everett and his partners hit the road, they happen upon a gluttonous bible salesman, Big Dan Teague ( John Goodman ); meet up with Baby Face Nelson ( Michael Badalucco ) as he robs a bank; encounter three Sirens doing their washing; run into Everett's estranged wife Penny ( Holly Hunter ), who has told everyone her husband was killed in a train wreck; find themselves in the middle of a heated campaign between political boss Pappy O'Daniel ( Charles Durning ), and reformist candidate Homer Stokes ( Wayne Duvall ); and even find time to make a hit record as The Soggy Bottom Boys. Noted songwriter T-Bone Burnett helped compile the songs (combining vintage country blues tunes with originals in the same style), while Carter Burwell composed the background score. Incidentally, the title O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a reference to the classic Preston Sturges comedy Sullivan's Travels , in which a director plans to make a serious "message picture" with that name. — Mark Deming