‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’ finds success

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In Theaters

O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? 103 minutes, PG-13, directed by Joel Coen, written by Ethan Coen and Joel Coen. Based on Homer’s “The Odyssey.”

Who else but Ethan and Joel Coen could pull off a film that melds elements of Homer’s “The Odyssey,” Preston Sturges’ “Sullivan’s Travels,” Victor Fleming’s “The Wizard of Oz,” and music that recalls the best of Robert Johnson?

Not many, but then the Coen brothers aren’t like many writers or directors working in Hollywood today – and that, of course, is part of their appeal.

From “Blood Simple” to “Fargo,” “Raising Arizona” to “Barton Fink,” the Coens have successfully turned out a handful of films that are only predictable in their unpredictability.

In the unusual, they uncover the truth. In the truth, they discover the absurd. In their own way, they expose life’s peculiarities from a perspective that might seem slight to some and forced to others, but to those with a sense of humor and a willingness to suspend disbelief in the face of some pretty monumental implausibilities, these brothers usually hit their mark.

Their latest, “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” directed by Joel from his and Ethan’s script, is no exception. The film is very good, a fun, well-acted, character-driven story peppered with so many literary, cinematic and musical references, a good deal of its enjoyment comes from spotting its influences.

In the film, George Clooney stars in a Golden Globe-winning performance as Ulysses Everett McGill, an escaped convict from Depression-era Mississippi, who hits the road running with two fellow prisoners chained to his side: Delmar O’Donnel (Tim Blake Nelson) and Pete Hogwallop (John Turturro).

Dashing through fields of tobacco, the men eventually come upon a railroad track, where, with the help of a blind man who sees deep into their future, they begin their bizarre odyssey with the police close at hand.

Along the way, Homeric interludes ensue: John Goodman’s one-eyed Bible salesman is a nice nod at Homer’s Cyclops; the three singing women the men meet at a stream are Homer’s Sirens; and the main thrust of the story – Everett’s journey back to his wife, Penny (Holly Hunter) – mirrors Odysseus’ ultimate goal in “The Odyssey.” If your Greek isn’t up to par, it shouldn’t matter – the Coens only use “The Odyssey” as a loose framework for their film and not as a rigid blueprint.

With Charles Derning in a Golden Globe-winning performance as the politician Pappy O’Daniel, “The Practice’s” Michael Badalucco in a hilarious turn as George “Babyface” Nelson, and Chris Thomas King as the bluesman Tommy Johnson, a man who, like Robert Johnson, claims he’s sold his soul to the devil to be a better musician, “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” is a Southern-fried pastiche of Americana underscored with the ripe fruits of pop culture.

Its romanticized view of the South is inaccurate and too often the film seems fueled only by a cheap condescension of the South and its people, but since myth is the point of this film – and not realism – the Coens nevertheless get away with it all.

Grade: A-

On Video

DINOSAUR. 84 minutes, PG, directed by Ralph Zondag and Eric Leighton, written by John Harrison and Robert Nelson Jacobs.

With a steep $200 million budget – $80 million of which went into the construction of a new state-of-the-art digital effects studio – Disney’s “Dinosaur” swings its beefy tail into video stores with one mean, ugly monkey on its back: its script, which is a rip-off of Don Bluth’s 1988 animated film, “The Land Before Time.”

Just as in “Time,” “Dinosaur” follows a group of dinosaurs escaping predators and destruction for the promise of green nesting grounds that will save their lives – if, of course, they don’t die before getting there. The situations might differ along the way, but the premise is startlingly the same.

Thanks in large part to its computer animation, “Dinosaur” nevertheless manages to rise above its familiar plot and its tardiness on the Cretaceous scene to mount a jaw-dropping spectacle – one that boasts a breakthrough in the merging of digitally-enhanced, live-action backdrops to computer-generated images.

Parents of sensitive children should take note: The film may feature cute, cuddly dinosaurs and adorable lemurs that talk, but those gentle creatures are frequently put under attack by rampaging carnotaurs, bloodthirsty beasts that are so loud and terrifying, a few frightened children at my screening last May were quickly ushered out by their parents.

Older children, on the other hand, should be delighted.

To the screenwriters’ credit, “Dinosaur” does pack sufficient punch, bite and roar to keep the action moving at a stirring pace, and it’s blissfully free of song and dance numbers. But unlike Disney’s other animated pics, especially the recent “The Emperor’s New Groove,” it is surprisingly humorless, instead focusing on the very humanlike morals the film’s “good” dinosaurs share.

Grade: B

SOLOMON AND GAENOR. 110 minutes, R, written and directed by Paul Morrison. In English, Welsh and Yiddish, with English subtitles.

Paul Morrison’s “Solomon and Gaenor” proves that even the most familiar and predictable love stories, when done well, can rise above a formula and offer audiences something real and meaningful within a genre that usually offers less.

In spite of recalling Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” – not to mention all the films, plays and books it has inspired over the years – the film manages to be unique. It uses three languages – English, Welsh and Yiddish – and two religions to shape one love.

Set in Wales in 1911, the film is about two people from vastly different backgrounds who never should have met or fallen in love. Solomon (Ioan Gruffudd), is a nice Orthodox Jewish boy who sells swatches of fabric to the poor and Gaenor (Nia Roberts), a nice, churchgoing Christian girl who buys swatches of fabric from people like Solomon.

It’s a setup for tragedy that audiences have seen countless times before, but Gruffudd and Roberts are so convincing in their roles – and have such great chemistry on screen – the complications of their actions make for a stirring drama, one that only falters at the end when Morrison strikes an unexpectedly false note.

Grade: B+

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear Mondays in Style, Thursdays in the scene, and Thursdays on “NEWS CENTER at 5:30” on WLBZ-2 and WCSH-6.

THE VIDEO CORNER

Renting a video? NEWS film critic Christopher Smith can help. Below are his grades of recent releases in video stores.

Cecil B. Demented C

Dinosaur B

Dr. T and the Women D

The Eyes of Tammy Faye B+

Jesus’ Son A-

Solomon and Gaenor B+

What Lies Beneath B

Bait F

Battlefield Earth F-

Coyote Ugly C-

Disney’s The Kid B+

Me, Myself & Irene C+

Autumn in New York F

Hollow Man C-

The Art of War F

The Exorcist: The Version You’ve Never Seen A

Godzilla 2000 B+

The Cell B

Road Trip D-

Saving Grace A-

Where the Money Is C+

The Virgin Suicides B+

Loser C-

The Road to El Dorado B-

Shower B+

Scary Movie B-