By JOSEPH CRAWFORD
UNWITTINGLY witty, disturbingly funny, confusingly simple...yes, sounds like another Coen Brother's hit.
Ethan and Joel's latest creation shows the power of escalation and misunderstanding in this off-beat dark comedy.
With high expectations, Burn After Reading has a rather simple narrative and yet the Brothers manage to create such a web of confusion and insecurity that it becomes highly entertaining.
The movie starts with CIA data analyst Osbourne Cox, played superbly by John Malkovich as an arrogant, self important, angry man, being fired for having a "drinking problem".
Infuriated, Cox decides to write memoirs of his years serving the government.
When the memoirs accidently fall into the hands of gym employees Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand) and Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt), the duo seize the "opportunity" as a way of blackmailing Cox out of money, mistaking the documents for government secrets.
George Clooney enters as Harry Pfarrer, an adulterous treasury agent who just so happens to be sleeping with Osbourne's wife, Katie Cox, played by Tilda Swinton.
Described as a "cold bitch" by Pfarrer's wife, Katie plans to divorce her husband and get away with half of his finances and run off with Harry.
Meanwhile, Linda and Chad arrange a meeting with Osbourne in hope of getting money to pay for Linda's plastic surgery.
Negotiations do not go well, resorting in Brad Pitt's character receiving a rather nasty broken nose, which put a smile on Jennifer Aniston's face I'm sure.
All of this takes place under the watchful eye of CIA supervisor played by J K Simmons. Baffled by the stupidity of the series of events, the supervisor and his agents cut in every so often to summarise what is going on, which came as a great relief.
Pitt is particularly funny as air-headed Chad, putting in an energetic performance which is guaranteed to make audiences giggle, increasingly involving himself in a world he has no idea about.
George Clooney's animated character also turns heads as he charms almost every female in the film, including McDormand.
Personally, I found Frances McDormand's performance just brilliant as mousey, internet dating Linda, who seems to be the only party with good intentions.
Essentially the film deals with American insecurity, conveying the idea that 'intelligence is relative' as the movie's tagline states, and the all-star cast deliver perfectly.
The style of the film was limited though, appealing mostly to Coen Brothers' fans.
If you liked Fargo, you'll like this.
It has all the characteristics of a very human experience; the Russian embassy, upon receiving the useless information Linda gives them, react with sadism and dismissal, believing they are being mocked.
The CIA headquarters are unphased by the shocking moments and plot thickeners and simply summarise the whole fiasco as a vast misunderstanding.
The overall tone of the film has a sophisticated charm, but a particular dose of moronic behaviour and paranoia altogether produces yet another delightful Coen Brothers souffle.
You will find yourself giggling, not laughing, giggling at the end...but even when the whole two hours has been explained within the last 30 seconds of the film, you'll have a hard time explaining why you're still chuckling.
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