Coen Brothers attempt to re-tell "The Odyssey" as set in Mississippi, 1930s. That's just the barest of hooks, a road movie full of sirens and mystical voices, a devil and hopes (how American is this) of financial redemption.
Almost visually as beautiful as Miller's Crossing, this movie gathers again the brothers' favorite actors (John Turturo, John Goodman, Holly Hunter), adds Charles Durning and George Clooney, and together they create quirky cartoonish characters drawn from American culture, making spooky, rural Mississipi a place full of miracles, a place where a river provides both an ethereal, powerful life-changing baptism, and then an ethereal, life-changing seduction. All of this is set to haunting Stamp-Baxter like southern gospel and delta blues. Robert Johnson, the famous Delta blues singer, is recreated in this as Tommy Johnson, and yes, he did sell his soul to the Devil at the crossroads. Depression era-Texas governor Pappy O'Daniel (Durning) is now a Missisippi governor. A Klan rally is infused with the asthetics of Wagner, Busby Berkley and a high school marching band.
Clooney is excellent as the fast talking (yes, he looks like Clark Gable, only more handsome) head of three chang gain escapees.
The silliness is allowable because of the almost watery, beautiful scenes, terribly composed, but not for their own sake. Besides, who needs to watch men in togas fighting three eyed monsters when the Coen Brother make it so much fun. I bought the sound track and have enjoyed listening to it, btw.
