2000 / 103 Minutes / PG-13
Reviewed by Dale Nauertz

Hello. My name is Dale and I am a Coenaholic. I have seen and loved every single Coen Brothers movie. Okay, my own personal Coen tastes run more toward their comedies. My favorite movie of theirs is either “Raising Arizona” or “The Big Lebowski”, depending on which one I have watched last. In the Forties, certain directors used to make movies that were screwball comedies. The Coens, when they choose to do comedy, make movies that are more like kamikaze comedies. They fly in the face of convention (and, most of the time, plot) in order to entertain and elicit laughs. If they also burn up on impact and leave a lot of wreckage in their wake, well, that’s just one of the dangers. You can’t make an omelette without breaking some eggs.

Of these three, “Raising Arizona” has the most inspired and streamlined plot. Playing the abduction of a baby as a comedic premise was inspired. Making the baby an object which everyone in the plot lusted after (like the gold in “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” or the Lost Ark in “Raiders of the Lost Ark”), well, that was ingenious. Taking a Raymond Chandler plot and having a stoned, middle-aged bowler and his psychotic friend try to figure it out in “The Big Lebowski” was another stroke of genius. Taking Homer’s “The Odyssey” and reconfiguring it as a movie about three affable idiots who have escaped from a chain gang is not quite on a par with these other two. But if this movie is not the best comedy of the year, one at least must give it credit for being the most ambitious.

This film is only loosely based on “The Odyssey”. Very, very loosely. You’ve got a hero named Ulysses who has a great deal of trouble getting home to his wife Penelope-or, in this case, Penny. You’ve got three sirens luring the men off track. You’ve got the Cyclops reimagined as a one-eyed Bible salesman (John Goodman, who is never better than when in a Coen movie….except maybe here). And I think “The Odyssey” had a blind prognosticator who told the men what they were to find on their journey. But aside from those similarities, I think that’s about it. You also have an allusion to the classic Preston Sturges comedy “Sullivan’s Travels” (which I have seen and it’s good, not great) in the title and in the chain gang seeing a movie at a theater. But most of the movie is just good, fun Coen Brothers craziness.

All I really expect from a Coen comedy is some inspired lunacy, and I got it here. There is a hilarious auto accident involving cows. There is a cameo appearance by “Babyface” Nelson. You’ve got a KKK gathering that must be seen to be believed (it’s one of the most gorgeous, and darkest, scenes in recent memory…and it’s also a bit of a musical number), a black man with a guitar who has had traffic with Satan, many run-ins with the law, and the usual Coen dialogue. What I love in a Coen movie is the way that common folks use words that are far beyond their usual patter. Clooney, in particular, has a delicious way around a sentence. And, it must be noted, the three main actors are a joy to watch. Clooney gets to wrap himself around some meaty comedic situations and does so with great zest. He’s like an insane, narcissistic version of Clark Gable and he gives every line a nice little verbal spin. Turturro is….well, he’s indescribable. He takes this sketch of a man and brings him to wonderful life. Tim Blake Nelson is one of the most hilarious idiots in recent memory, and he really gets a chance to shine here. The cameos by Holly Hunter, John Goodman, Stephen Root and Charles Durning are all nice.

The downside? The movie rambles from one absurd situation to another, lacking the nutty linear motion of “Raising Arizona”. But I also thought the same thing of “The Big Lebowski” on initial viewing so, y’know. Some of the moments in this movie are also not quite as inspired as the best ones and the movie does start feeling long toward the end.

But for any and all you Coenheads out there (y’know who y’are), it is a crime to let this movie pass you by. And for the rest of you, it’s too damn absurd not to be a good time. Even if it isn’t cinematic brilliance, it’ll do if the showings of “Crouching Tiger”, “Quills” and “Traffic” are all sold out. It’s also the funniest flat-out comedy of the season.

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This entry was posted on Friday, December 22nd, 2000 at 3:40 pm and is filed under Dale's Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.