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BURN AFTER READING (Running Time: 96 min; Rated: R)
Reviewed by Denise Castillón
Mix one part screwball comedy and one part sex farce, and out pours this hilarious lightweight film. The Coen Brothers’ politically-themed comedy BURN AFTER READING exposes the antics of a group middle-aged Washingtonians as they undergo a variety of personal crises.

CIA analyst Osborne Cox (John Malkovich) has been ousted by the Agency. Incensed, he returns to his Georgetown home to work on his memoirs and his drinking. His uptight wife Katie (Tilda Swinton) responds frostily to his breakdown. In fact, it gives her cause to leave Cox for Harry (George Clooney), a married federal marshall and sex fanatic, with who she’s having an affair.

Linda (Frances McDormand), a lonely fitness center employee, is obsessed with cosmetic surgery and internet dating. Meanwhile, the gym’s manager Ted (Richard Jenkins) secretly pines for her. When a computer disc, containing the CIA analyst’s “secret stuff”, accidentally falls into Linda’s hands, she enlists co-worker and confidante, Chad (Brad Pitt) to join her in a lamebrain scheme to exploit their find. Unknowingly, the two knuckleheads set off a series of hilarious encounters. All the while, ominous forces at work propel events to spin further out of control.

Starring George Clooney, Frances McDormand, Brad Pitt, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, Richard Jenkins.

Written, Produced and Directed by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen. Cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, A.M.C. Edited by Roderick Jaynes. Executive Producers Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Robert Graf. Distribution by Focus Features.