Kid B

It was the year 2000 and the turn of the century and British rock band Radiohead held the world in their palm. Their previous two albums, The Bends and OK Computer, were phenomenal and already being regarded as two of the greatest guitar rock albums of all time. So what did the year 2000, and the band's fourth album bring? Kid A, the bizarre completely random collection of electronic computer music totally unlike anything Radiohead had done before. In other words it was Radiohead's Fuck You to the world. They were the biggest rock band on Earth, they could do whatever they wanted and we would buy their album even if it was rubbish computer music. Burn After Reading is the Coen brothers' Kid A. Following the dark, deep and brilliant Oscar-winner No Country for Old Men, the Coen brothers have given us a bizarre, disjointed and meaningless film to chew on. And I couldn't be happier.

Sometimes bizarre, disjointed and meaningless is fine. Spending two dark involving hours with Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem's terrible haircut is fine on occasion, but do it too often and it gets to be too much. Sometimes you need a breath of fresh air. Sometimes you need Burn After Reading. I can't help but feel that everyone involved in this film was making it purely for the purpose of fun. There's no deeper meaning or moral discussion going on here. Burn After Reading is what it is.

Having 'quit' his job as a CIA analyst Osbourne Cox (John Malkovich) decides to write a potentially controversial memoir chronicling his time with the agency. An electronic copy of the memoir finds its way to Hardbodies, a fitness club, where employee Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt) comes across it. Chad realises the importance of what he has and teams up with Linda (Frances McDormand), who comes up with the plan to blackmail Osbourne Cox so she can pay for the plastic surgery she needs. Meanwhile Osbourne's unhappy wife Katie (Tilda Swinton) is having an affair with Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney), a treasury agent. Complicating matters is the fact that Harry is also seeing Linda, and what follows is a disastrous chain of events resulting in murder, the Russian embassy and wielding axes in broad daylight.

Burn After Reading sticks with having a coherent and mildly believable storyline but as it approaches the finish line it throws caution to the wind and opts for the most incredible ending possible. If you understand the film you won't have any problem with this. The film is about producing laughs, and it does so on a regular basis. Osbourne's gradual slide into insanity, Harry's bizarre erotic hobby and just about every scene with Brad Pitt had me in a fit. The way the film ends is abrupt and completely irrational, but it's perfect considering.

The cast look like they're having a wonderful time. John Malkovich plays the pathetic loser role he's starting to grow into with gusto. George Clooney is terrific as the pitiable womanising treasury agent. Frances McDormand, our main protagonist, is great playing her part with wide-eyed enthusiasm. Tilda Swinton is solid as the cold bitchy straying wife. J.K. Simmons is hilarious in a cameo role. The thing with superstar ensemble casts is that one actor always seems to stand out from the rest. Tom Cruise in Magnolia, Matt Dillion in Crash. Here it's without a doubt Brad Pitt. Pitt's self-deprecating performance is right on the money, virtually everytime he opened his mouth I laughed. His scenes with Malkovich and his facial expression in his lone scene with Clooney will go down as the funniest of the year I'm sure.

You can only hope that people don't see Burn After Reading as No Country for Old Men 2, nothing could be further from it. It's unlike anything the Coen brothers have done recently, more in tune with their wacky stuff from the early days. If No Country for Old Men is their best drama, and Fargo is their best all round film (which I stand by), then Burn After Reading has to be their finest comedic work.