Those Coen brothers' movies really do grown on you. I had just seen Fargo when I rented this. It is one of the most creative, off the wall films I have ever seen. As these characters bumble their ways after a prison break, they are embraced by a series of the most unconventional personages ever to hit filmdom. And one gets turned into a frog--sort of. their flirtations with fame, the Klan, a cyclops, and all the other episodes, make this a hilarious romp. George Clooney's Ulysses is an obsessive, full speed ahead, damn the torpedoes, coupled with the charming half-wittedness of his fellow travelers, works at every level. Like Greek poetry, he is butting heads with the gods, but despite setbacks, keeps moving. It is story telling with charm and a load of bull. Everyone is some kind of philosopher, but the words come out of gap toothed, shaved headed hillbillies. And, of course, Clooney has hell to pay. I could watch this over and over again. And then there's the really cool music. I didn't even mention that!

The Coen Brothers have done it again. Three depression era convicts(George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson)escape a Mississippi chain gang and head off in search of buried treasure that will fund their new lives. Along the way, they sing on the radio and become much sought after stars as well as escapees. Great laughs and a soundtrack that is a lesson/introduction to bluegrass music.

Clooney is outstanding as the fast talking, quick witted Ulysses Everett McGill. Holly Hunter plays his estranged wife. Turturro and Nelson are flawless stumblebums. Also in the cast are John Goodman and Charles Durning.

Dan Tyminksi provides the singing voice for George Clooney on "I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow", the Soggy Bottom Boys song that serves as a template for the bluegrass laden soundtrack that also features Alison Krauss, Ralph Stanley, The Whites, John Hartford, The Cox Family and Gillian Welch. Toe tapping, knee slapping fun for the whole family. You'll be surprised with how relaxed and funny this movie is.

Despite me giving this film a 10, it is NOT my favorite Coen Brothers film (that honor would go to the even more bizarre and quirky HUDSUCKER PROXY). However, it still is an amazingly good film. The first time I saw it, I might have scored it an 8, but now after seeing it again, I find myself laughing even harder and enjoying it even more. Plus, while the film is a hilarious retelling of Homer's "ODYSSEY", I find myself spotting more and more story elements from this great book. The cleverness in doing this was truly a work of genius. On top of that, the music is so infectiously fun that you can't help but tap your feet and even sing along--it's THAT good.

The film begins with the escape of three idiots from a chain gang. The normally handsome George Clooney is rather greasy and stubbly looking but he always manages to look far more attractive than his incredibly ugly and occasionally dim-witted sidekicks. I liked John Turturro quite a bit, but especially fun was Tim Blake Nelson as the dumbest and ugliest of the lot! He was incredibly funny throughout--especially when he was convinced that Turturro had been turned into a frog (much like when Odysseus' men had been turned into pigs in THE ODYSSEY).

However, these three guys were not the whole show, as like most of the best Coen films, they are surrounded by the best supporting performances you can find in film. Charles Durning (who was great in THE HUDSUCKER PROXY) was delightful as the wily old governor and Holly Hunter was wonderfully awful, but so many wonderful actors and actresses adorned this lovely film. So many odd faces (much like a Fellini film) and quirky personalities made this film truly memorable.

The look and sound of the film was also terrific--with a real nice early 1930s look about it and great sepia-toned cinematography and the best toe-tappinest soundtrack I've heard in years. I usually hate old time country music, but the songs they chose were amazing! And the actors did a great job in pretending to be singing the songs.

See this film. In fact, after you see this film, see ANYTHING the Coens made--THE HUDSICKER PROXY, RAISING ARIZONA, THE MAN WHO NEVER WAS, INTELLERABLE CRUELTY, MILLERS CROSSING and pretty much most of their other wonderful films. Oddly, while it won so much fame, one of their worst and most disappointing films was FARGO--a one joke film. Plus, I gotta admit that BARTON FINK really fell apart towards the end.