Alternative to What: "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" (2000)

Scene from O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Welcome to Alternative to What: a weekly column that tries to find a great alternative to driving to the multiplexes. Based on releases of that week, the selections will either be thematically related or feature recurring cast and crew. The goal is to help you better understand the diversity of cinema and hopefully find you some favorites while saving a few bucks. At worse, this column will save you money. Expect each installment to come out on Fridays, unless specified. 

THIS WEEK:

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)

- Alternative To -

Hail, Caesar! (2016)

It becomes difficult with each passing year to properly narrow down what The Coen Brothers' best movie is. It is why this week's Alternative to What is a bit of a tough call, especially with Hail, Caesar! looking to continue their track record of impressive Americana. So how do you go when you're dealing with a film that takes place in the 50's Hollywood system? I could go with the more deliberate selection and simply tell you to watch Barton Fink. However, there's a sense that if you're wanting to choose a film that is in line with the current film, you'd have to choose an ensemble film starring George Clooney. With that in mind, it is difficult to think of another film that is likely to be as rousing and encouraging as The Coen Brothers' first film with Clooney from 16 years ago called O Brother, Where Art Thou?.
The premise is simple. Three chain gang members escape during the Great Depression era. Based roughly off of Homer's "The Odyssey," the story follows their exploits as they move across the south, singing popular songs from the era along the way. There's everything to love about old American culture from bandits to witchcraft to the KKK. It's all here and given a sense of Coen Brothers absurdity for good measure. The premiere of Clooney itself is fascinating, considering that it is a transition for him from the early days that were plagued by Batman & Robin and the later days when he became Oscar royalty. Here, he manages to prove why he is deserving of the legacy ahead. He is the handsome man who could play funny.
The cast is also strong with the supporting roles of Tim Blake Nelson and John Turturro, who are at various levels of education. With Clooney being the smartest, it is his job to con his way out of any problem that they come across. It is a film so rich with slapstick that this may as well be a screwball comedy out of time as well as a strange retelling of history. The film as a whole is a love letter to culture that isn't often seen on screen, or at least like this. Clooney's confident schmuck is a brilliant addition to The Coen Brothers ensemble, and it only continued to get more interesting in later films, specifically in Burn After Reading.

The film itself comes at a strange time in The Coen Brothers' cannon, following Fargo and The Big Lebowski and before their least acclaimed films Intolerable Cruelty and The Ladykillers. To some extent, this is the birth of the new era of what they would do by mixing drama with comedy and slapstick in ways that are wholly unique. While the duo have always been ambitious with their technique, there's a certain confidence and ambition that began in the 00's to make the films weirder and more singular than they had been in the past. It would only continue, even in their later dramas like No Country For Old Men and A Serious Man. For what it's worth, the duo have been consistently surprising, and it can easily be seen by contrasting this Clooney vehicle with their most recent one. Yes, both are broad comedies with a strong ensemble, but both are only tangentially similar beyond the basic constructs.

While the simple answer is "Any," I would suggest watching The Coen Brothers' work with Clooney in preparation for their latest outing. Considering that there's only four movies total, it won't take up a lot of time and while it ranges from the inspired Depression-era screwball to the spy spoof Burn After Reading, there's a strong sense that both sides of this coin bring out the best in each other. Clooney can be funny elsewhere, but rarely is he as capable as when he's forced to don a beard and sing into a can. If nothing else, O Brother, Where Art Thou? is among the funnest films that they have ever made, and it sets a bar that's impossible for them to top on pure entertainment. It's bizarre and fun in all of the right ways.