Clooney plays smart-aleck convict Ulysses Everett McGill, who escapes from a chain gang with two dim-witted companions in Mississippi during the depression.

The trio encounter a gallery of bizarre characters while going in search of stolen loot, including a sadistic Ku Klux Klan-affiliated salesman, and a paranoid bank robber with a severe dislike of cows.

While dodging the law, the boys also find time to record a hit song and unwittingly affect the outcome of a local election as our hero eventually arrives home to confront his Penelope.

Clooney displays a superb flair for comic timing in this larger-than-life comedy from the critically acclaimed Coen brothers (Raising Arizona, Fargo).

And it's not every day that you can watch him losing a fight with a pencil-neck, shrieking like a girl and even wearing a hairnet.

The film boasts flawless performances from Coens regular John Turturro (The Big Lebowski) and Tim Blake Nelson as Clooney's clueless buddies, and great support from John Goodman and Oscar winner Holly Hunter (The Piano).

Described by Empire magazine as 'magical entertainment', this is a clever and visually stunning barrage of laughs, action and downright weirdness.

Dominic Bloch