Call it Coen Brothers lite, but their latest offering is not only a big departure from Oscar winning "No Country for Old Men" it's tons of silly fun. These guys love movies and it shows. That signature black humor at which the brothers excel is in fine form here, especially when paired with a stellar cast (including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich and Tilda Swinton) and lots of lame brain characters who manage to keep us entertained while we're laughing at their sheer stupidity. The rather wacky plot revolves around a disk containing the memoirs of former CIA operative Osborne Cox (Malkovich) and the determination of Linda Litzke (McDormand) to obtain the funds for several cosmetic surgeries she believes are vital to her job and piece of mind. When the disk is found at HardBodies, a gym where Litzke and her partner in crime Chad Feldheimer (Pitt) work, a ridiculous series of events is put into play. Feldheimer is convinced that the owner of the disk will gladly offer a reward for its return while Litzke is after higher stakes in order to cover the cost of her surgeries. This lame tag team proceeds to create all sorts of trouble for themselves and others as they contact everyone from Cox himself to the Russian consulate in a bumbling effort to cash in on the disk.
In addition to the disk plot there's a convoluted illicit sex triangle involving Harry Pfarrer (Clooney), an impossibly paranoid federal marshall, Cox and Cox's cold blooded wife Katie (Swinton) that veers from keystone cops to darkly sinister. Although Pitt is a stand out in the cast, everyone seems to be energized by working for the Coens and there's not a disappointing performance in the lot. As usual, even the smaller roles are outstanding, especially Richard Jenkins as a HardBodies co-worker and J.K. Simmons as a CIA Superior Officer who blithely orders bodies burned and money spent while trying to keep track of the whole crazy mess. While this isn't one of the truly "out there" Coen movies, it's got enough lunatic characters, twists and events to keep the audience not only laughing but waiting for the next wild twist in the road.
Things to love about this movie: Brad Pitt's hilarious performance as Chad is a highlight of the movie; typically outstanding Coen Brothers script; some great fun is poked at online dating
Things to hate about this movie: It went on a little long and lagged a bit towards the end
Pleasant surprises: John Malkovich proves to be an excellent comic actor; Harry's invention/contraption in the basement
Unpleasant surprises: A major character is unexpectedly killed part way through the movie
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