The Coen Brothers are no strangers to creating great laugh-out-loud comedies - with Raising Arizona, The Hudsucker Proxy and The Big Lebowski under their belt they're among the greatest filmmakers out there when it comes to getting a few laughs (although the less said about their remake of The Ladykillers the better). O Brother, Where Art Thou? is no exception. While on paper a loose adaptation of Homer's Odyssey might not sound like the recipe for a great comedy, the Coens' have taken the source material very loosely and transformed it into something approaching a screwball comedy familiar to anyone who's watched the great Preston Sturges comedies of old (indeed, Sullivan's Travels was a direct inspiration for O Brother, Where Art Thou?) It's worth watching the movie for the fight outside Woolworths alone, in which George Clooney's character demonstrates his complete lack of pugilistic skills with hilarious results. Fortunately, there's plenty more fun to be had beyond seeing Clooney playing against type - it's ridiculous, daft and hugely entertaining.
