Though the Coens claim to work as a unit, they produce two very different types of film. The first are the zingers, the character-led dramas - Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, Fargo, The Big Lebowski. The second are the duffers, making claims to high art with their endless referencing, high concepts and their over-fastidious, catalogue-fresh sets - see Miller's Crossing, Barton Fink, Hudsucker Proxy, O Brother Where Art Thou. O Brother 'hilariously' alluded to both Homer's Odyssey and the Golden Age of Hollywood. This film belongs in the latter camp, drawing heavily on classical tragedy (fate is coming to get you) and pulp fiction, and shot in a pseudo-noir style with many a tired conceit and knowing wink. The hairdressers have taken over the asylum.