History YMMV / OBrotherWhereArtThou

* WhyWouldAnyoneTakeHerBack: Penny is a shrill, demanding woman who lies to her daughters about their father ''right in front of him,'' shows him no loyalty or affection throughout the entire movie, and refuses to remarry him unless he retrieves her old wedding ring in the cabin that is now ''[[ImpossibleTask underwater]].'' Not that Everett is exactly an upstanding citizen himself, but he must ''really'' love his daughters if he's willing to put up with that. Although her standoffish behavior may be a reaction to having to put up with Everett's selfish, scheming ways the entire time they were married.

* VindicatedByHistory: It's kind of in the process of this currently. Some Coen Brothers fans still give this a mixed review, while more and more are starting to see it as a masterpiece. There is a growing base that calls it the Coens' finest film.

* DesignatedVillain: Vernon T. Waldrip, Penny's suitor, is meant to be viewed in a negative light, given how he's standing in the way of Everett's goal to reunite with his family. In retrospect, however, Vernon stands out as one of the more upstanding members of the cast. He's described as a "bona fide", hard-working man who's willing to marry a divorcee and provide support for her seven children. His fight with Everett is done in self-defense after the latter throws the first punch. Furthermore, he displays a strong sense of professional ethics when he refuses Pappy O'Daniel's offer to backstab his current client in favor of managing O'Daniel's political campaign. The most egregious thing that he does is alert his boss Homer Stokes, a Ku Klux Klan member, to the knowledge that the three main characters are escaped convicts ([[JerkassHasAPoint which they are]]).
** However...considering his lack of reaction to Homer Stokes' confession, he either already knew about Stokes being with the Klan or doesn't consider it an issue. It's ambiguous whether Waldrip shares Stokes' racism and is simply engaging in PragmaticVillainy to help his boss, or if he's simply misguided in his loyalties.

** The Ku Klux Klan scene, wherein we learn that [[spoiler: Homer Stokes]] is actually an Imperial Wizard. ''[[spoiler: And so is his little person!]]''

* DesignatedVillain: Vernon T. Waldrip, Penny's suitor, is meant to be viewed in a negative light, given how he's standing in the way of Everett's goal to reunite with his family. In retrospect, however, Vernon stands out as one of the more upstanding members of the cast. He's described as a "bona fide", hard-working man who's willing to marry a divorcee and provide support for her seven children. His fight with Everett is done in self-defense after the latter throws the first punch. Furthermore, he displays a strong sense of professional ethics when he refuses [[CorruptHick Pappy O'Daniel's]] offer to backstab his current client in favor of managing O'Daniel's political campaign. The most egregious thing that he does is alert his boss Homer Stokes, a Ku Klux Klan member, to the knowledge that the three main characters are escaped convicts ([[JerkassHasAPoint which they are]]).

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08e9k-c91E8 Man of Constant Sorrow]]'' That is some ''mighty'' fine a-pickin' and a-singin'!
** Many people felt that the [[AwesomeMusic/{{Film}} whole soundtrack]] was better than the movie. Even people who thought the movie was very, very good. Not only did the soundtrack album have sequels of its own, but it also won Album of the Year at the 2002 Grammys.
** And the a capella singing of "Down To The River" deserves special mention for its INCREDIBLE harmonies. That many people singing together, all with amazing voices, is enough to give you goosebumps.
** Also the a cappella singing of American folk song “O Death” by Ralph Stanley. The soundtrack producer T-Bone Burnett originally wanted it sung traditionally, till Stanley asked to let him sing it how he wanted to, at which point Stanley put down his banjo and just sang, after about two or three verses Burnett just said “that’s it”. It also won Stanley the Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance in 2002.

* DesignatedVillain: Vernon T. Waldrip, Penny's suitor, is meant to be viewed in a negative light given how he's standing in the way of Everett's goal to reunite with his family. In retrospect, however, Vernon stands out as one of the more upstanding members of the cast. He's described as a "bona fide", hard-working man who's willing to marry a divorcee and provide support for her seven children. His fight with Everett is done in self-defense after the latter throws the first punch. Furthermore, he displays a strong sense of professional ethics when he refuses [[CorruptHick Pappy O'Daniel's]] offer to back-stab his current client in favor of managing O'Daniel's political campaign. The most egregious thing that he does is alert his boss Homer Stokes, a Ku Klux Klan member, to the knowledge that the three main characters are escaped convicts ([[JerkassHasAPoint which they are]]).
** However...considering his lack of reaction to Homer Stokes' confession, he either already knew about Stokes being with the Klan or doesn't consider it an issue. It's ambiguous whether Waldrip shares Stokes' racism and is simply engaging in PragmaticVillainy to help his boss or if he's simply misguided in his loyalties.
* HilariousInHindsight: Wayne Duvall, who plays Homer Stokes--[[spoiler:the Ku Klux Klan's Imperial Wizard]]--would later go on to play [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Wade Senator Benjamin Wade]], a [[spoiler:radical abolitionist and civil rights activist]], in ''Film/{{Lincoln}}''.
* HoYay: Delmar and Pete are handsy towards each other throughout.

* TearJerker: Tommy's reaction as he's about to be lynched. He believes it's the Devil's way of collecting on his debt, but at same time [[GoodCannotComprehendEvil he doesn't understand why the Klansmen are dragging him to his death]] when he hadn't done anything to cross them other than not be their favorite color:

* WhyWouldAnyoneTakeHerBack: Penny is a shrill, demanding harpy who lies to her daughters about their father ''right in front of him,'' shows him no loyalty or affection throughout the entire movie, and refuses to remarry him unless he retrieves her old wedding ring in the cabin that is now ''[[ImpossibleTask underwater]].'' Not that Everett is exactly an upstanding citizen himself, but he must ''really'' love his daughters if he's willing to put up with that. Although her standoffish behavior may be a reaction to having to put up with Everett's selfish, scheming ways the entire time they were married.

-->"''I ain't never harmed you gentlemen before... I ain't never harmed nobody!''"

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08e9k-c91E8 Man of Constant Sorrow]]''

* WhyWouldAnyoneTakeHerBack: Penny is a shrill, demanding harpy who lies to her daughters about their father ''right in front of him,'' shows him no loyalty or affection throughout the entire movie, and refuses to remarry him unless he retrieves her old wedding ring in the cabin that is now ''[[ImpossibleTask underwater]].'' Not that Everett is exactly an upstanding citizen himself, but he must ''really'' love his daughters if he's willing to put up with that.

-->''"Would it be alright if Mert and Aloysius signed with X's? Only'' four ''of us can write."''

** Considering his lack of reaction to Homer Stokes' confession, he either already knew about Stokes being with the Klan or doesn't consider it an issue. It's ambiguous whether Waldrip shares Stokes' racism and is simply engaging in PragmaticVillainy to help his boss or if he's simply misguided in his loyalties.

** Considering his lack of reaction to Homer Stokes' confession, he either already knew about Stokes being with the Klan or doesn't consider it an issue. It's ambiguous whether Waldrip shares Stokes' racism and is simply engaging in PragmaticVilainy to help his boss or if he's simply misguided in his loyalties.

* DesignatedVillain: Vernon T. Waldrip, Penny's suitor, is meant to be viewed in a negative light given how he's standing in the way of Everett's goal to reunite with his family. In retrospect, however, Vernon stands out as one of the more upstanding members of the cast. He's described as a "bona fide", hard-working man who's willing to marry a divorcee and provide support for her seven children. His fight with Everett is done in self-defense after the latter throws the first punch. Furthermore, he displays a strong sense of professional ethics when he refuses [[CorruptHick Pappy O'Daniel's]] offer to back-stab his current client in favor of managing O'Daniel's political campaign. The most egregious thing that he does is alert Homer Stokes, a Ku Klux Klan member (which Vernon didn't know about at the time), to the knowledge that the three main characters are escaped convicts ([[JerkassHasAPoint which they are]]).

* MagnificentBastard: Pappy O'Daniel taking advantage of the protagonists' band to rebuild his political career.

* WhyWouldAnyoneTakeHerBack: Penny is a shrill, demanding harpy who lies to her daughters about their father ''right in front of him,'' shows him no loyalty or affection throughout the entire movie, and refuses to remarry him unless he retrieves her old wedding ring in the cabin that is now ''underwater.'' Not that Everett is exactly an upstanding citizen himself, but he must ''really'' love his daughters if he's willing to put up with that.