Subtle Satire: What "location" means to the Coens

Rating: 10/10 (25 December 2009)

Can't help but offer my comments on this movie. The setting of the story and plot are very important. The movie offers subtle but acid satire about the strata and subcultures of the Nation's Capital. Having spent nearly 30 years there, I nearly split my sides snickering at the characters and plot.
For that reason, it offered to me the same entertainment value as Tom Wolfe's novel, "Bonfire of the Vanities." This pattern of setting and characterization is just as certain in another film by Ethan and Joel Coen -- "No Country for Old Men."
Brad Pitt and Frances McDormand are hilarious; John Malkovich and George Clooney play their roles to the hilt, as does Tilda Swinton.