Coen's Funniest Since Lebowski.

Rating: 9/10 (11 September 2015)

Burn After Reading (2008): Dir: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen / Cast: George Clooney, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Brad Pitt, Tilda Swinton: Hilarious Coen Brothers film regarding a misplaced disc by an ex-C.I.A analyst that is found and used for blackmail. It also references paranoia in that such information can lead to tragedy. Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen with numerous plot twists yet the outcome feels incomplete. They are notorious for bizarre yet clever films such as The Big Lebowski and Blood Simple. John Malkovich is demoted at the C.I.A but instead quits. His wife is having an affair with a Treasury department agent, played by George Clooney. Frances McDormand plays an instructor at a fitness gym who is intrigued by a disc and decides to investigate or profit from it. Malkovich is at his comic extremes as he rapidly slips into madness when blackmail plays a factor. Clooney descends into paranoia when people are not who they seem, and murder intrudes unexpectedly. McDormand investigates the contents of the disc that she fails to realize isn't what she thinks. Her curiosity will cost others severely. Brad Pitt plays her co-worker whose intrusion bares fatal consequences. Tilda Swinton plays Malkovich's irritated and cheating wife. Humor is wayward in its take on violence. It regards how one senseless gesture can cause so much chaos. Score: 9 / 10