Burn After Reading

Thank all that is good for the Coen Brothers and their latest film "Burn After Reading", a dark comedy about a couple of spacey gym employees who find the memoirs of an ex CIA analyst and try to sell it to the Russians and blackmail the analyst for money so that one of the gym employees can get some plastic surgeries to reinvent herself.

It's no wonder why so many great actors jumped at the chance to be in this movie. The characters are so well created and folded into this complicated plot. And because they are all great actors, they seemed to have a competition going for who could take their character the farthest and give the best comedic performance, they all won. Francis McDormand and Brad Pitt are awesome as the two not-so-sharp gym employees. Tilda Swinton, though playing a character she plays a lot, was great as the cold bitch wife of John Malcovich who plays the analyst who quits the CIA after being demoted and writes the memoir that falls into McDormand and Pitt's hands. George Clooney does what he does best playing a ladies man. His character works for the treasury department and he is completely neurotic and convinced he is being followed. J.K. Simmons was fantastic as the boss at the CIA headquarters who is being reported to about everything that has gone wrong, and Richard Jenkins was brilliant as the manager of Hardbodies Gym who was completely in love with McDormand's character who was completely oblivious of how he felt.

There were a few surprises that I didn't see coming at all which is refreshing. The last time I had a true gasp moment watching a movie was when I saw "The Departed" - you know what scene I'm talking about if you've seen it, if you haven't, I won't ruin it for you even though you probably know about it because of some jerk who couldn't keep his mouth shut.

I loved it and want to see it again.