four stars

Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand) and Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt) are coworkers at a local gym. When they find a CD on the floor in the locker room and discover what they think are government documents, they come up with a plan to get a reward for returning such valuable information. They contact the owner of the CD, Osbourne Cox (John Malkovich) who is an ex-government employee. He is writing his memoir, and driving his wife Katie (Tilda Swinton) crazy. He is an angry alcoholic, who refuses to pay Chad and Linda to recover what turns out to be files from his book. Katie, who has been having an affair with Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney) decides Osbourne’s decline into unemployment and alcoholism signifies that it is time to get a divorce. Harry who is also married (and having another affair with Linda) is convinced he is being followed and gets rather paranoid. Meanwhile Chad and Linda, having no luck getting a reward from Osbourne, take their CD to the Russian Embassy. The Russians need more, so Chad breaks into Osbourne’s house and while he is there Harry, who is staying with Katie while his wife is out of town, finds him, kills him and dumps him in the river. Linda enlists Ted Treffon (Richard Jenkins) their manager from the gym to help her find Chad and he has a run in with an ax-wielding Osbourne. It all gets pretty crazy in the end especially when the CIA finds out about it and steps in to keep everything quiet.

For me it was like watching ‘Oh Brother, Where art Thou?’ for the first time, another wonderfully bizarre comedy from Joel and Ethan Coen. They have such a honed sense of humor, at times dry and other times dark, but always very entertaining. Rated R for pervasive language, some sexual content and violence.