Passing time.

Rating: 6/10 (27 December 2009)

Sadly that appears to be what nearly everyone was doing here from the Coens on down the line of A-list actors. Though the film has plenty of funny, surprising, and if nothing else engaging moments, it pales drastically in comparison to other works by most of these folks. It especially pales in comparison to the Coens' recent No Country for Old Men which is near the top of my all time list.
The story deals with a recently fired CIA agent (Malkovich) losing a CD full of possibly crucial secrets he is planning on using to write a memoir with. Right off the bat that would seem like a highly illegal way of spilling compromising material, but somehow the man seems compelled to try and tell his story to anyone who might listen. Unfortunately he loses the disk at a health club and it falls into the hands of two employees (McDormand and Pitt) who plan on selling the info to the Russians after a failed, but hilarious attempt to sell it back to the agent. Most of the characters are connected by either the disk, or other characters in the cast they are screwing. Everyone here seems to be sleeping around with each other, but isn't that what life these days is all about? Really, this is not a remarkable project. All it does is give some of these A-listers a chance to work together and throw in some quirks here and there. Really nobody but Malkovich stands out in this ensemble. Pitt proves once again that there is no role he cannot screw up. The role of "Chad" is written just fine, but Pitt over-does it and tries to act excessively zany. I guess when you reach a certain level of stardom even the best directors either trust you to death or just don't have the guts to tell you how bad you're doing. Not sure which here. Tilda Swinton plays herself as usual, George Clooney is pretty good, and Frances McDormand again seems to blend right into her role. And the desperately random world of on line dating proves to be an easy target. Been there and done that! Luckily the film isn't that long, and if you have an hour and a half to watch these big stars mugging, go for it. 6 of 10 stars.
The Hound.