Set in Depression-era rural Mississippi, the Coen Brothers deftly create a world unto itself in this clever adaptation of Homer's epic The Odyssey, replete with escaped convicts, hidden treasure, a one-eyed Bible salesman, sirens, cyclops, and a kick-ass soundtrack.
Disenchanted with the daily drudge of crushing rocks on a prison farm in Mississippi, the dapper, silver-tongued Ulysses Everett McGill (George Clooney) busts loose. Except he's still shackled to his two chain-mates from the chain gang—bad-tempered Pete (John Turturro) and sweet, dimwitted Delmar (Tim Blake Nelson). With nothing to lose and buried loot to regain before it's lost forever in a flood, the three embark on the adventure of a lifetime in this hilarious offbeat road picture, loosely based on Homer's epic poem The Odyssey. Populated with strange characters, including a blind prophet, sexy sirens, and a one-eyed Bible salesman, it's an odyssey of its own, filled with chases, close calls, near-misses, and betrayal. [107 min; adventure, comedy; English]
Indie to Indy Screening: IU Cinema and Indianapolis' Kan-Kan Cinema present this screening as part of the Granfalloon Film Series. The film will screen in both locations simultaneously and include a live audience-to-audience component prior to the start of the film.
After the film, there will be a discussion group led by Morgenstern Books.
"It's a wild, whacked-out wonder. Coenheads rejoice." — Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
"It's a new new thing, classic myth from both literature and the movies, commingled, set to great folk music, and untrammeled by any sense of predictability, urgency, realism or believability but hypnotic, graceful and seductive." — Stephen Hunter, Washington Post
"It is, all in all, a rambunctious and inspired ride in which the Coen brothers' voracious fascination with the arcana of American popular culture and their whiz-kid inventiveness reach new heights of whimsy." — Dana Stevens, The New York Times
Any film screened at IU Cinema may contain content that viewers find sensitive or upsetting. Visit our Audience Advisories page to learn more.
