Almost as good as Fargo...but not quite.

Rating: 7/10 (29 January 2009)

The bizarre character stew in this latest Coen Brothers' film puts me in mind with their earlier film, Fargo. "Fargo" put a certain charming folksy twist to the murder mystery genre. "Burn" takes an almost vaudevillian approach to the political thriller (and, for that matter, online dating). There were similar dynamics between characters, although not on a par with the Macy/ Buscemi/ Stormare weirdness factor. Clooney gets to stretch his ability by playing someone with little to no redeeming value, and it's only seeing how hopelessly, laughably pathetic the character is that we don't come away from watching "Burn" thoroughly detesting him. He's a high-rolling loser who gets his in the end. Same goes for McDormand, who you can't help but feel is a victim of reading one too many beauty/ fitness magazines and finds her body lacking in its entirety. Malkovich manages to maintain some dignity as a low-level intelligence lackey who is convinced he can publish his memoirs and blow the lid off the intel community. Pitt is endearing as McDormand's high-energy nincompoop cohort (personally, I think Brad should stick with the smaller partshe does lunatic so well). Tilda Swinton could've shown up in her Narnia costume for all the ice she exudes in this film. Richard Jenkins once again puts in a solid performance as an ex-Greek Orthodox priest, perhaps the only noble character in the bunch. Written concurrently with "No Country For Old Men," one can understand why this film may have lacked in energy. But great laughs and dialogue, and you come away wondering how people like these could possibly manage to get through life without their lunacy being detected sooner.