O, Brother! You’re going to laugh until it hurts

By Rob Howard
Associate Editor

O, Brother! is a madcap, fast moving comedy that will have you laughing from the first scene all the way to the closing credits. The comedy makes fun of a lot of the issues of the day, takes a look at stereotypes and demolishes them, and did I mention you are going to laugh yourself silly.

The movie is a part of the deadCENTER Film Festival, which opens Thursday, June 9 in downtown Oklahoma City.

O' Brother! is a wild comedy starring comedian Spencer Hicks as Michael, the Mayor’s Chief of Staff who is caught on an adultery website and loses his wife and job in the public scandal. His estranged gay brother Luke (Lance McDaniel) comes to the rescue and hides Michael with the drag performers Kitty Bob Aimes and Norma Jean Goldenstein at his gay bar and dinner theater, The Boom.

While Luke is dealing with his boy toy employee Angel (Del Murphy), Michael is quickly whisked away by his ex-con best friend Terry (Mathew Alvin Brown). Terry leads Michael on an adventure through strip clubs, bachelor parties, cock fights and gang warehouses, where he will either die in a gun fight with a Mexican gangster (Wilson Navas) or reconcile with his brother and join his true love (Stephanie Pena).

McDaniel, Hicks and Melissa Scaramucci wrote the screenplay together. McDaniel says he wanted to do a movie that could be shot in five days, using limited locations. Hicks and Scaramucci “were both awesome, the process of writing was fun, shooting in five days was great because you don’t have a lot of discussion about what to do.” He wanted to show, with comedic impact, the effect that laws like those passed in North Carolina have on people like those in the film.

Pretty much every stereotype that we each have about others, and about ourselves, is taken out, shaken, made fun of and then cast aside. McDaniel said, “You in your back rooms are saying things like this. Once they are brought out into the open, it allows for better discussion.” The film “examines the hypocrisy that all of us bring to life. Each of us judges other people. None of us are perfect, we all have the ability to stereotype others.

“The world is different than it seems, people are not always who we think they are.”

Dealing with stereotypes is often a risky business, but for each one dragged out, there are laughs galore. “I’m not super worried about anybody being offended. People go to R-rated comedies for that,” he said. And be assured, this is an R-rated comedy.

The film – writing, shooting, editing, actors, all of it – entirely in Oklahoma. “For me to do the production side of it, it could only happen here. Almost everybody in it I have worked with before. It was only possible here, I knew what they could do and were on board to do something different.”

A lot of the laughs are gained from the interaction of conservative politics. McDaniel notes the political climate in Oklahoma, but views it differently than many. “The politics of Oklahoma are far worse than the reality of Oklahoma,” he said. “I think most of the people who vote for anti-gay politicians are not anti-gay. I like the idea of doing this story here because there is a lot more going on here than it would appear.”

McDaniel praised his cast and staff, and particularly noted several of them. “Spencer Hicks and Melissa Scaramucci -  the writing for this was a huge part of it, and the fact that Spencer turned out to be such a great actor.”

No film can be done with a camera crew and skilled editing. He particularly called out Alan Novey, the cinematographer and Beau Leland the editor. “It couldn’t have happened without those two guys. It is super hard filming all hand-held for 12 hours a day. As for Beau, no one is asked to edit in 10 days and he said ‘sure, let’s try it.’”

McDaniel has plans for the film. “We are going to try to get it in bigger festivals, mainly gay ones, and then sell it online.” And it doesn’t stop there. “We have discovered some really fun characters that we might be able to further develop.  Our intention is to sell it as a movie, and perhaps turn it into a TV series.”

O, Brother! will be screened this Saturday, June 11 at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday June 12 at 8:30 p.m. at the Harkins Theatre, 150 E. Reno Ave., in OKC’s Bricktown District.

The best way to experience deadCENTER is with the All Access Pass. The All Access Pass offers priority entrance to every film, party, panel, and special event (the Opening Night Party is sold out). All Access Passes are $150.

All Access pass holders are let into screenings first, and the remaining seats are sold to individual ticket buyers for $10. You must be in line 20 minutes before each film to get priority access. Seating is not guaranteed. After pass holders are seated, the remaining seats are sold to those in line, so it is a good idea to show up early.

You can pick up your pass or register on-site at the Registration Lounge at IAO Gallery, 706 W. Sheridan in downtown OKC, today (Wednesday) 12 – 6 p.m.; Thursday, June 9, 12 - 8 p.m.; Friday, June 10, 10 a.m. - 8 p.m., and Saturday, June 11, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

The Gayly – June 8, 2016 @ 2:40 p.m.