Another classic from the Coens
Well, the Coen Brothers are back. Burn After Reading returns to the sardonic and sophisticated dark comedy I missed in last year's No Country for Old Men . I'd say it ranks close to my personal Coen favorites, The Big Lebowski and Fargo . In fact, it borrows quite a bit from Fargo , generally in a couple of graphic deaths, and specifically in a scene involving a hatchet. The plot borrows from Lebowski , with its use of a highly dubious MacGuffin -- some CIA files -- to send a cast of highly self-absorbed characters careening into each other in unexpected ways. You've seen the TV ads, so I don't need to mention how good the cast is. Personally, I think Brad Pitt's role as a bumbling gym trainer is drawn a bit too broadly, but I won't quibble. You've got to hand it to him for taking that sort of a role. John Malkovich has a character he was born to play. The writing elsewhere is absolutely precise, and absolutely funny. Dave Bob says four stars, even as he a...