O Brother, Where Art Thou?

In the Coen Brothers' cheeky nod to Homer, George Clooney plays Ulysses Everett McGill, a smart-aleck convict who escapes from a Mississippi chain gang with two dim-witted companions (John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson) during the depression. The trio encounter a gallery of bizarre characters while going in search of stolen loot, including a sadistic Ku Klux Klan-affiliated salesman, and a paranoid bank robber with a severe dislike of cows. While dodging the law, the boys also find time to record a hit song and unwittingly affect the outcome of a local election as Ulysses eventually arrives home to confront his Penelope. Barmy and yet very smart.