Burn After Reading

Photo Credit: Focus Features

4 stars

Expect the unexpected in the Coen brothers’ latest.

Rating: 14A
Stars: George Clooney, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton and Brad Pitt

What’s the story?
A fired CIA agent Osbourne Cox (Malkovich) loses his disc of personal memoirs, which gets into the hands of two dimwitted gym employees, Linda Litzke (McDormand) and Chad Feldheimer (Pitt). The pair attempts to blackmail Osbourne, believing that the disc contains important CIA documents. Behind the scenes, Osbourne’s wife Katie (Swinton) is cheating on him with a Treasury agent, Harry Pfarrer (Clooney), who is also becoming involved with Linda. Pfarrer believes that someone is spying on him, and, as the plot thickens, so does everyone’s paranoia.

Why see it?
With the Coen brothers, you never know what you’re going to get – and it’s easy to get mixed feelings with this film. It’s a bag of crazy goose-chases and dark happenings, but it’s also a laugh a minute. The performances are fantastic and they help keep this rather weird plot afloat. Brad Pitt’s portrayal of the dumb gym employee, is outstanding. His character is the most lovable part of the movie.

Problems?
While the Coen brothers’ twisted sense of humour is consistently laugh-out-loud funny, there are times where you’ll be shocked out of your mind, particularly in one jaw-dropping scene. Unfortunately, not every viewer will appreciate the brilliance of this plot twist. Beyond that, any follow up to No Country is going to fall a little short.

All in all:
A hilariously smart movie about stupid people.