The Idiots who came in from the Cold

I have a weakness for really funny movies, movies that make me laugh so hard I cry, if that happens my first instinct is to say that movie is the best movie ever. Keeping that in mind The Coen Bros latest film "Burn After Reading" is the best movie ever. Okay not really, it's not even the best Coen Bros movie ever but in my mind all I can say is it's definitely the funniest movie I have seen all year.

But out of all the milk I would've lost through my nose had I been drinking milk while watching this I think the people who were laughing the most through this movie were the Coen Bros. themselves, it is so full of their usual nonsense with a thickly plotted story which like "The Big Lebowski" before, it doesn't really matter in the end. But perhaps their is something a little deeper the Coens were going for. For one thing the comedy is interrupted by moments of extreme violence and much like the Coen's darker more intense films like "Fargo" and "No Country for Old Men" the innocent are not always spared. Granted those films dealt with their issues on a grander scale that this film only hints at. I suspect that like most of the Coen's work repeated viewings are in order to see the subtle nuances (and there are in this movie). But really it's just nice to laugh again.

For those who know the plot gets going when Osborne Cox (John Malkovich in his funniest role since "Being John Malkovich") a former CIA analyst decides to write his memoirs, when his wife (Tilda Swinton) wants a divorce she downloads his files by order of her divorce attorney and when those files are mistakenly left at a gym it is picked up by dimbulb trainer Chad (Brad Pitt) who thinks he can blackmail Cox. His partner in crime is Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand) a woman with low self-esteem and needs money for cosmetic surgery. The plot also involves Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney) who is a serial computer dater even though he's happily married, he's sleeping with Cox's wife along with seeing Linda, but he's also very paranoid and his actions soon shift the film in unseen territory.

The plot unravels on itself like a peeled on. Layer after layer is peeled until all you have left is nothing. J.K. Simmons as the CIA supervisor is our lethargic voice of reason who doesn't know what to make of this as much as we do.

The world of the Coen brothers is one of those great unique worlds that only film can dream up which is why I believe these guys are the best filmmakers working today, the mood can switch from whimsy to violence so suddenly there is no way to see it coming. Each character is perfectly cast. Malkovich is wonderfully aloof as to why two idiots are trying to blackmail him, Tilda Swinton can fit into the cold and icy bitch role like a glove but this time it's a comedic take. Clooney who is less manic and brood in this than he was in his other Coen outings gives a very fun and even touching performance as Pfarrer, a man who has a unique gift he's making in his basement which gives the biggest laugh. As Linda Litzke, McDormand is just as peppy and positive as her Marge Gundersson from "Fargo" but this time the consequences aren't so happy. And then there is Brad Pitt who makes stupidity an artform, his Chad steals every scene he's in, he's so dense he doesn't realize he's in over his head. The scenes with him and Malkovich over the phone and in the car are comic highlights for the ages. If Tom Hanks can win an Oscar for playing stupid, Pitt should seriously be considered as well.

"Burn after Reading" might not be for everyones tastes, to quote from "This is Spinal Tap" "It is a fine line between stupid and clever." What it really is The Coen Bros. at their game and when that happens it's the best movie ever.

4 stars out of 4