O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)

George Clooney is on the run from a chain gang in O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and his biggest worry is which hair pomade he’s using. That joke never gets old. The road trip does. It’s a string of episodes, some stops are classics, others just sort of end, and Holly Hunter barely gets a scene to work with. Clooney plays Everett as a windbag who uses ten-dollar words on people who didn’t ask, and it might be his funniest role. Tim Blake Nelson’s Delmar is so sweet and so dim you want to protect him. John Turturro’s Pete is permanently furious. John Goodman shows up as a one-eyed Bible salesman with a very large stick. The real star is the music. When the trio cuts Man of Constant Sorrow in a tiny radio booth, the movie sings. A 7.9 because the songs and the dialogue carry a road trip that loses the map now and then. $8,269 says Man of Constant Sorrow is stuck in your head for days, and you start checking your hair in every window.

What works: The bluegrass and gospel soundtrack, Clooney’s wordy windbag act, and Tim Blake Nelson’s sweet, dim Delmar.

What doesn’t: The episodic road trip wanders, some detours just stop instead of ending, and Holly Hunter gets almost nothing to play.

Who it’s for: People who like their comedies talky and strange, and anyone who has ever sung harmony in a car.