Burn After Reading

Can't tell you how many people told me in no uncertain terms that they hated this movie. Enough that I put off a viewing despite George Clooney and, did I mention and? Brad Pitt. I love George Clooney in a would bear him children sort of way. I love Brad Pitt (although I'm not sorry Angelina is doing the bearing.) But I put off the movie because a number of folks really, really, really didn't like it and then I realized that all these folks were younger than me. Yes, this has bearing. It takes a certain maturity to truly appreciate irony. To enjoy anything by the Coen Brothers requires a deep seated love of the ironic. Oh, and this is really a film about middle aged angst... something the younger folks just aren't going to get. Go figure.

The story in a nutshell - middle aged Linda (Francis McDormand) has decided that nothing short of radical plastic surgery will find her a man, so when her brain dead buddy (Brad Pitt is hilarious!) at the fitness center finds what is apparently a CD of spy type stuff she sets off to sell it to the Russians. Middle aged Osbourne (John Malkovich) has been let go from his post at the CIA as a low level analyst - it's really just his financial records that our dubious duo are trying to peddle; dropped by middle aged Harry (George Clooney) who's boffing Osbourne's viper of a wife (Tilda Swinton) and anything else that walks including Linda. Lost yet? It gets incredibly worse and people end up living impaired and the CIA tidies everything up in the end. Don't they always?

The ever jovial Coens actually wrote these parts for these very actors and take great glee in taking ridiculously handsome men like George and Brad and making them simply ridiculous dorks. Of course, they've played with Francis (Fargo) and George (O Brother, Where Art Thou) before - but they sure had fun with Brad. So, I laughed at the irony and I laughed at Brad Pitt playing a mindless muscle head and I even laughed at the outrageous and unexpected violence. I hate it when they get me to do that... but I do love it so. Check out the website here.