Parting is such sweet cashflow for crack matrimonial lawyer Miles Massey (Clooney).

And if his client's soon-to-be ex doesn't play things his way then he's not averse to "massaging the kinks out of the testimony".

However, when he sets eyes on Marylin Rexroth (Zeta Jones) he finds his heart undermining his head and his ice cool professionalism ebbing away.

Her estate agent husband, the philandering Rex Rexroth, has hired Miles to protect his assets after he's been caught in flagrante.

His court performance is so formidable that Marylin ends up with nothing...but the knowledge that Miles is the man to secure her financial future.

To oil the wheels, the fact that he's fallen in lust with his erstwhile adversary gives her the perfect platform for revenge.

This has attracted criticism that the Coen Brothers are dumbing down - but what it really means is that they are merely being more accessible.

While callous and cynical, it doesn't have the pitch black humour that informed Fargo and the underrated The Man Who Wasn't There.

Clooney demonstrates he is a master of the smooth comedy role with an assured performance spilling over with sharply honed barbs.

Zeta Jones is less convincing as a fairly thankless one-dimensional vamp, which sees her running the risk of stereotype.

Once you accept that Miles and Marylin are a pretty unpleasant couple there's plenty of laugh-out-loud moments.

And there's one sequence involving a botched assassination and an inhaler that's as funny as the Coen brothers have ever been.

Not quite as good as it could have been, even the brothers on cruise control are worth a hour or two of your time.

Tim Evans