League of Morons

Back 1996, the Coen Brothers garnered critical success and some Academy Awards for their thriller Fargo. They followed that up with The Big Lebowski, a nonsensical comedy of utter ridiculousness that flew over people's heads during its theatrical run but found an audience on video. It is now quite possibly one of the funniest movies ever.

Fast forward to 2007. The Coen Brothers earned critical success and some more Academy Awards for their thriller No Country for Old Men. They followed that up with Burn After Reading, a nonsensical comedy of utter ridiculousness. I doubt it will find the same success as Lebowski in either the short- or long-terms, but it's a strong addition to the Coens' catalog of comedies.

Without going into the plot in any detail whatsoever, the cast gets entangled in a sequence of events that becomes so convoluted and confusing, it can only be considered stupefying by outsiders. Burn After Reading's subtle, brand of dark humor won't appeal to everyone (it only contains a few truly laugh-out-loud moments), but if you get the Coen Brothers, you'll be giggling to yourself throughout 96 minutes.

John Malkovich steals the show as a deposed mid-level Washington suit dealing with his newfound unemployment. He channels an awful lot of Lebowski with his role as he drops F-bombs left and right while spazzing out. Brad Pitt also has a funny turn as an earnest personal trainer whose efforts to be a "good samaritan" blow up in his face. Not surprisingly, the film is at its best when the two are together on-screen.