The bastions of blue grass assembled at Nashvilles Ryman Theatre for this celebration of the soundtrack from the Coen brothers O Brother, Where Art Thou?. It was clearly a great night for aficionados. But little of that comes across in this concert movie, which is all the more disappointing considering D. A. Pennebakers status in the musi-doc business.
As the rehearsal segment proves, there was personality to spare on the bill (most notably fiddling emcee John Hartford). But once the gig begins, the emphasis is firmly on performance. Acts are wheeled on and off with an efficiency to match the music. But theres no sense of event, no whiff of the thrill the artists clearly felt at being in each others rarified company.