Irredeemably bad movie about irredeemably stupid people

Rating: 2/10 (10 May 2010)

Coen Brothers comedies at their best, like The Hudsucker Proxy or Raising Arizona, are brilliant, and up until today I would have said that Coen Brothers comedies at their worst are at least mild fun, but this is one is utterly wretched. The movie's plot relies entirely on the stupidity of its unlikeable characters: the cascade of calamity could have been stopped had anyone in it had half a brain. From the half wit who is shocked her insurance won't pay for her cosmetic surgery on, this is a movie about people with no clue. The movie is pointless and dull. Ostensibly a comedy, it fails to be funny in spite of some good performances. Brad Pitt gives it his all as a dopey personal trainer, but like all the other performers he is done in by a script that gives him nothing to work with.
This is a terrible, terrible movie, easily the Coen's worst film, and I find the good reviews it has received inexplicable. I can't help but feel that the Coen pedigree is causing people to give it more consideration than it deserves.