Movie review: Coen Brothers score again with "Burn After Reading"

"Burn After Reading," the latest "comedy" from the Coen Brothers, was released over the weekend, and I was first in line.

I have been a HUGE fan of the Coen Brothers for more than 15 years ("The Big Lebowski" is one of my favorite movies of all time.) I was pumped to see a new Coen "comedy" this weekend, and it did not disappoint.

I put "comedy" quotes, because this is, after all a Coen Brothers comedy, which means, unlike other comedies, where you can walk into the theater, sit down and turn your brain off and just laugh, you have to think to understand the Coens' films. The plot is so convoluted that I got confused more than a few times (but having seen Lebowski a few hundred times I realized that plot is secondary to dialogue and acting — George Clooney gives his best performance since "O Brother Where Art Thou?")

Also, be warned, there are scenes of such brutal violence that do not normally appear in comedies (imagine watching Austin Powers, and during a very funny scene, Austin is shot in the face and dies). Although while I was watching the film I didn't put 2 and 2 together, but this is what you can normally expect from a Coen Brothers comedy (reference "The Ladykillers,")

To sum it up, Brad Pitt was hilarious in the film, George Clooney steals the show (though most other reviews will go on and on about Pitt's performance). There are LOTS of laughs, LOTS and LOTS of blood and no shortage of brutal deaths played for yuks. If this is your thing, by all means check this film out. If not, then at least rent "The Big Lebowski," because everyone needs to see that film at least twice.