The title refers to the day Julius Caesar was assassinated by a group of senators who feared his role as a dictator would forever destroy their constitutional government. Some of these senators were close friends of his which makes their actions all the more shocking. In the political arena then and now, you’d think those running for office would have their friends and loyal advisors to instill their trust in. But as history shows, the quest of power can tear friendships apart completely and corrupt the seemingly incorruptible. In William Shakespeare’s play of “Julius Caesar,” a soothsayer warns him before he is stabbed to death:

“Beware the Ides of March.”

George Clooney’s latest directorial effort is based on the play “Farragut North” by Beau Willimon, and it looks at how dangerous a political campaign can be for all those involved. They may not get stabbed in the back literally, but there is a lot of that to go around figuratively speaking. It all makes for an intense political thriller that never lets up.

Ryan Gosling stars as Stephen Meyers, a Junior Campaign Manager for Governor Mike Norris (Clooney) who is seeking the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. As the movie opens, Norris is campaigning in Ohio where a win there will all but guarantee him the nomination. Meyers is a strong believer in Norris and what he stands for, but his belief in him and the world of politics is in for a rude awakening. After a secret meeting with the rival campaign manager Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti), trust becomes a precious commodity that’s in very short supply. Meyers also stumbles on an even bigger situation which could destroy the campaign for good.

This is Clooney’s fourth movie as a director, and the abilities he shows behind the camera are never in doubt. “The Ides of March” doesn’t necessarily break any new ground in the political movie genre, but he does great work in generating tension throughout as characters suddenly finds themselves on a precipice which threatens to fall out beneath them with little warning. He also gets great performances from the entire cast as they face off with each other like they’re playing a game of chess. Everyone is holding their cards close to their chest, and only the eyes can give them away in showing where they are most vulnerable.

Gosling is having a heck of a year in 2011 with this, “Crazy Stupid Love,” and “Drive.” As with the latter, he brings a smoldering intensity to his performance as he takes Meyers from a political idealist to one who sells out his values when things get rough. With one look he can let us inside his thoughts without saying a single word.

Two of my most favorite performances in “The Ides of March” come from two of the best character actors ever: Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti. Playing campaign managers for their individual candidates, they brilliantly bring out the moral complexities of each person as their agendas become clear throughout the story. Both also make what could have been convoluted actions or maneuvers appear completely believable as they try to get the upper hand in a fragile political environment. They essentially represent the cynical side of politics where idealism vanished a long time ago and the path Meyers may be forced to go down if he wants to continue working in this realm.

The fabulous Evan Rachel Wood is great as always as Molly Stearns, a campaign intern whose confidence collapses when her secret is realized. Seeing her go from a sexy seducer to the campaign’s most vulnerable employee is handled by her like a pro, and she makes us see Molly as a person while others view her as a crippling concern needing to be quickly and quietly removed. The cruelty of politics comes to hit her character the hardest.

And then there’s the equally fabulous Marisa Tomei who portrays New York Times reporter Ida Horowicz. She enjoys a friendly banter with Gosling from the start which draws us in on a more personal level. It’s there where Tomei traps not just Gosling but the audience as well. She provides us with a friendly face that is later revealed to be a manipulative journalist who wields more power than you might expect one to have. I have yet to see Tomei give a bad performance in anything she does.

What I really like about the screenplay of “The Ides of March” is that it’s not about good guys and bad guys. It’s all about shades of gray and how the hope in politics can be easily and quickly worn down to a cinder of what it once was. Some of the actions in the movie almost feel like something out of the “Saw” as they almost seem illogical and impossible to put together, but it makes sense in regards to the world it takes place in. This would make a great double feature with Mike Nichols’ “Primary Colors” as both deal with the moral compromises made in getting your man elected. But while “Primary Colors” sees something of a light at the end of the tunnel, “The Ides of March” doesn’t let the viewer off as easy.

* * * ½ out of * * * *

Focus Features recently send us over the official trailer and poster for the new Anton Corbijn film "The Americian" staring George Clooney.

Academy Award winner George Clooney stars in the title role of this suspense thriller, filmed on location in Italy. Alone among assassins, Jack (played by Mr. Clooney) is a master craftsman. When a job in Sweden ends more harshly than expected for this American abroad, he vows to his contact that his next assignment will be his last. Jack reports to the Italian countryside, where he holes up in a small town and relishes being away from death for a spell. The assignment, as specified by a Belgian woman, Mathilde (Thekla Reuten of “In Bruges”), is in the offing as a weapon is constructed. Surprising himself, Jack seeks out the friendship of local priest Father Benedetto (Italian stage and screen veteran Paolo Bonacelli) and pursues romance with local woman Clara (Italian leading lady Violante Placido). But by stepping out of the shadows, Jack may be tempting fate.

The film is written by Rowan Joffe (“28 Weeks Later”) and is based on the novel A Very Private Gentleman by Martin Booth

"The American" hit theaters on September 1st.

"The American" Official Trailer"

After watching “The Fantastic Mr. Fox,” I am convinced that Wes Anderson should make as many stop motion animated movies as he possibly can. Nothing against his live action movies, but this form of animation seems really suited to Anderson’s rather unique blend of comedy and dysfunction. While his last film “The Darjeeling Limited” was very good, it started to seem like Wes had been dealing with the same themes once too often. But with the brilliantly made “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” it gives his material a freshness that for a moment seemed to be ready to leave him. I wasn’t sure what to expect when going into the theater, but this turned out to be one of the most enjoyable movies that I saw in 2009. Any frustration I had over not being able to see “Avatar” (it was a family outing, and it didn’t seem right for my 5 year old niece) was completely forgotten.

The movie is based on a children’s novel written by Roald Dahl whom Wes Anderson considers one of his personal heroes. Dahl is the same man who wrote “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and “James and the Giant Peach” among other stories, and his work is characterized by a lack of sentimentality and dark humor. Judging from “Rushmore” and “The Royal Tenenbaums” with their strong black humor, it’s no wonder Wes digs this guy!

The Mr. Fox of the story is a cool and exceedingly clever animal, and we first see him with his wife sneaking into a farm to steal food. However, they are caught in a trap which has his wife saying that they should choose a safer form of work. Oh yeah, she also tells him that she’s pregnant, and that changes the dynamics of any relationship in a heartbeat. We catch up with these two a couple of years later as they have found a home within a hole in the ground. Mr. Fox is now a newspaper columnist, and he and his wife are parents to a son, the sullen Ash who constantly feels unappreciated in all he does. Mr. Fox however does not like where the family lives and promises to do better by them. Despite the warnings of his lawyer Badger, he ends up buying a new home in the base of a tree. Their new lodgings are also coincidently right near the gigantic farms owned by three ugly looking farmers, Walter Boggis, Nathan Bunce, and Franklin Bean. So of course, this gets Mr. Fox all excited and back to his usual tricks of stealing food and drink while the rest of the family remains unaware. To quote another fox from a vastly different 2009 movie, “chaos reigns!”

The first thing that people will notice about this movie is its “star studded” (what does that mean anyway?) cast of actors. Voicing the main character of Mr. Fox is the most debonair of movie stars right now, George Clooney. With this, “The Men Who Stare At Goats” and “Up In The Air,” I can’t help but wonder where Clooney gets the time to sleep. At this moment, he’s everywhere it seems, and his constant presence would be ever so annoying if he weren’t as good an actor as he is. George perfectly captures Fox’s confidence without iever becoming overly smug, and he exudes the cleverness Mr. Fox has in getting back at the three farmers.

Meryl Streep who also has had a busy year with this, “Julie & Julia” and “It’s Complicated,” voices Mrs. Fox. I actually wonder how she gets sleep as well doing all this great work and different accents. Meryl is the perfect contrast to Clooney’s charmingly reckless nature, and she serves as the conscience that Mr. Fox needs to hear out more often. Meryl doesn’t do anything incredibly different with her voice like she did for Julia Childs, but the warmth of it is quite seductive at times.

Wes Anderson has also employed many of his regulars for “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” as well. Jason Schwartzman who was featured quite prominently in “Rushmore” and “The Darjeeling Limited” voices Mr. Fox’s son, Ash. Jason perfectly captures the angst Ash feels at never fully winning his dad’s approval and you feel his desperation as he goes to dangerous lengths to get it. Owen Wilson, who co-wrote “The Royal Tenenbaums” with Anderson, has a cameo voicing Ash’s athletic coach Skip. You can tell its Owen right away, and he gives Skip a wonderfully dry voice that gets a good amount of laughs whenever he appears on script. Even Bill Murray, who has had a part in just about all of Wes’ movies, voices Mr. Fox’s lawyer Clive Badger, and he always seems to fit in perfectly in this writer/director’s cinematic universe. Wallace Wolodarsky voices the confidence challenged Kylie Sven Opossum who somehow gets sucked into Mr. Fox’s schemes against his better judgment.

Other voices to be found are Michael Gambon (the current Dumbledore of the “Harry Potter” movies) who voices one of the farmers hell bent on eliminating the thieving Mr. Fox, Franklin Bean. Eric Chase Anderson, who is responsible for doing those illustrations of Wes’ movies when they are released in the Criterion Collection editions, voices Mrs. Fox’s nephew Kristofferson who is perfect in every way Ash is not. But the most surprising voice in the film is from the actor who voices Rat, Bean's security guard. Rat was a French character, so I assumed that the actor voicing him was French. Turns out that it was actually Willem Dafoe! That’s right, the same guy who was in that other delightful movie with a fox in 2009, “Antichrist.”

With just about all of animated movies being released today done with computers and digital effects, it’s refreshing to see other filmmakers go a little retro with the stop motion animation. The work here is brilliantly done, and I was surprised at how lifelike everything looked. Movies like this must require an exceeding amount of patience to make because they must take years to produce. It also fits right in with Anderson’s quirky sense of humor which remains intact a good ten years or so after “Rushmore.”

And of course, the story fits in with Anderson’s common cinematic themes of dysfunctional families (anyone have a non-dysfunctional family?) and unique individuals who don’t always get the attention they think they deserve. Mr. Fox’s son Ash seems the biggest victim of all that goes on as he constantly struggles to win the attention of his father who holds his nephew Kristofferson in higher regard. Then again, how many foxes do you know of that practice meditation on a regular basis? Give Kristofferson some credit; he doesn’t waste time disemboweling himself like that wolf in “Antichrist” (sorry, I can’t stop mentioning that movie).

I also really dug the soundtrack that Wes chose for this movie. Each of his movies has had a great selection of music that veers from classic British rock songs to American rock among other genres. With “The Fantastic Mr. Fox,” Wes includes some songs from the Beach Boys and Burt Ives which fuel the movie with an undeniable sense of innocence and adventure. It has also made me an instant fan of The Bobby Fuller Four whose “Let Her Dance” plays during one of the most joyful moments of the film. Composing the score for “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” is Alexandre Desplat who has composed music for movies like “Firewall” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” I love how Alexandre captures the infectious spirit of the proceedings that take place here. Even as things get increasingly bleak for Mr. Fox and company, he helps to keep things constantly upbeat.

Is this a kid appropriate movie? I think so. It did get a PG rating which seems appropriate to me. There are many bottles of alcoholic apple cider and some smoked chickens that may give you the wrong impression of the goings on being displayed, but I really think that the movie is harmless. Compare this to the recently released sequel to “Alvin and the Chipmunks” which has not so subtle references to classics like “Taxi Driver” and “Silence of the Lambs” among others. This is a film aimed at kids, and they are going in droves to see it when they could be seeing something far more invigoratingly creative like this.

While you might be more likely to see this movie on DVD or Blu-Ray (or VHS if it’s still available), “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” really is a fantastic movie that deserves a big audience. Wes Anderson, along with co-writer Noah Baumbach (“The Squid & The Whale” and “Margot at the Wedding”) have managed to take their fascination with families that are less than perfect and put it in a context that will not scar your kids for life. It was also cool to see George Clooney play a character that (unlike in “The Men Who Stare At Goats”) was not afraid to dance.

Was it worth not going to see “Avatar” that day and waiting longer to see it? I hate to say it but yeah.

**** out of ****

A life without many if any emotional attachments seems like an appealing lifestyle to many, especially for those who are ever so career minded. To not have to worry about kids because you don’t have any, and to not get involved in serious relationships with others leaves you with a lot of open room to breathe in. But what happens when something comes along to break the façade of this lifestyle to pieces? Will you be able to handle it without reverting to your old ways? Will it make you realize just how lonely a person you are to where you have no idea of how to allievate the permanent state of solitude you’re stuck in? One thing’s for sure, this kind of life is not meant to last forever, and a rude awakening is out there waiting to pounce all over you. Hugh Grant got to play a character who lived this kind of like in one of his best films, “About A Boy.” Now we have George Clooney living that kind of life in Jason Reitman’s brilliant new movie, “Up In The Air.”

Based on the 2001 novel by Walter Kim, Clooney stars as Ryan Bingham, a man whose job is to travel all over the country to corporate offices to layoff employees. Companies hire people like Ryan so that the bosses of these employees can squirm their way out of this responsibility (pussies). His job is not all that different from those military officers or police officers who have the unwanted assignment of telling families that their husbands, wives or long lost relatives have died. While Ryan is not informing anyone of a dead family member, the people on the receiving end don’t really react all that differently. Still, he sees his job as a service as he tries to get them to see that this is not the end, but simply the beginning of a new life for them (easy for him to say). In addition, he also conducts conferences where he talks about “emptying the backpack” of attachments and things you don’t really need. Hence, the backpack is clearly symbolic of his life at this point for there is not much of anything in it.

The perks of this unappealing job? It does allow him to travel on airplanes for over 300 days out of the year. He does have a puny one-bedroom back in Omaha, Nebraska, but he is barely there. Truth is that the airports and airplanes are his real home, so his address truly is up in the air. But he really has the same problem that those who are seriously addicted to social networking websites like Facebook or Twitter have; they have a serious fear of human contact. They say that they don’t want a lot of personal attachments in life, but it speaks of some deeper fear that they may not be aware of right away.

This could very well be the best performance of George Clooney’s career, and he has given a lot of great performances (and I don’t just mean this holiday season). His performances in “Syriana” and “Michael Clayton” show how good he is at playing the world weary man who has seen just about everything, but who still has some will left to change his circumstances. From a distance, this almost seems like a walk in the park for Clooney as we see him in the trailers flashing that famous grin that he does every five minutes. But he brings a real depth to a really well written character, and despite the fact that he plays a man none of us would want to meet ever, George makes Ryan Bingham likable and very sympathetic.

Bingham ends up capturing the attention of another corporate employee who spends more time in the air than in the office, Alex Goran. Alex is played by Vera Farmiga, and she is as great in the role as she is seriously sexy! The first scene between these two reminded me so much of that scene in “Jaws” where Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss compare their scars; they show off all these executive cards and credit cards they have earned from travelling so much and for staying in the same hotels (god forbid they lose any customers). The chemistry between Clooney and Farmiga is instant and sells us on their budding relationship almost immediately. You want these two to end up together. They are essentially the same kind of person, although Vera puts it in another way:

“I’m like you with a vagina.”

Of course, there is a third wheel to balance things out in the movie and give a little more perspective on things. That third wheel is Natalie Keener, a recent graduate from Cornell University who has a lot of smarts but also has much to learn about the real world. Natalie is played by Anna Kendrick who you may remember from “Twilight,” the movie my friends despise with an intense passion. She is wonderful here as she prepares Bingham and the other corporate lackeys for a new way of firing employees; they will do it online from the comfort of their own offices. So basically, it makes a depressing piece of business all the more colder. It also threatens Bingham’s way of life as he lives to be on a plane instead of his tiny dump of an apartment (you’d figure he could afford better).

With this development comes the road movie part of “Up In The Air” as Bingham takes Kendrick to different cities all over the country to show her how he does his job, and of how the use of computers will take away from it (not to mention his frequent flier miles). Anna does brilliant work taking her character from being confident yet naïve to vulnerable and sad. None of the education she got at a top rate university could ever have prepared her for the unpredictability of a job that is never easy no matter how it’s done. Seeing her address a corporate meeting to her doing a drunken karaoke rendition of Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” should give you an idea of the range of her role.

Watching Clooney instruct Kendrick on how to pack her suitcase and leave stuff out she needs is hilarious as it reminds me of my parents constantly begging me to put everything in one suitcase when traveling. This way, I won’t have to check any luggage in. I don’t know about you, but I get so sick and tired of hauling a suitcase all over the place when I have my messenger bag to worry about already. Who packed this suitcase anyway? Oh wait a minute…

With “Up In The Air,” writer/director Jason Reitman hits his third home run as a filmmaker, and he firmly establishes himself as one of the best damn thing to happen to motion pictures right now. While this should have been apparent from the start with “Thank You For Smoking” and even more so with “Juno,” it is made abundantly clear here that he has a firm hold on the vision he has for each movie he makes. Jason even makes this movie even more authentic in regards to our current state of high unemployment by casting real people who have actually lost their jobs. It brings a lot more reality to a movie and reminds us of how unfair life can be despite doing the best job possible. Jason also does not sell out the movie with a false ending where everything is wrapped up neatly. Each character is on their separate journey, but their final destinations remain unknown to them.

Reitman also populates the movie with other great actors who make as strong an imprint on the film as the leads do. Jason Bateman plays Bingham’s boss, Craig Gregory, and this role is the flipside of the manager he played recently in “Extract.” It turns out that Bateman can be charming in one role and utterly smarmy in another with no problem. Amy Morton is also really good as Ryan’s estranged sister Kara, a woman suffering through her own midlife crises that her brother makes it look like he is getting through with no problem. Melanie Lynskey (great in both “The Informant!” and “Away We Go”) is a wonderful presence as Julie, Ryan’s younger sister who is about to get married. I was also surprised to see Danny McBride (“Tropic Thunder” and “Pineapple Express”) here in a slightly more dramatic role as Julie’s soon-to-be husband, Jim Miller. Danny definitely has some funny moments, but he really sells himself well here as a man who is not sure if he’s doing the right thing or not.

I also have to give a lot of credit to a couple of actors who make the most of their respective cameos. Zach Galifianakis, having almost completely walked away with “The Hangover,” gives this movie one of its funniest moments as Steve, one of many fired employees that Bingham has had to face. Looking at the things Zach’s character could have done had he been fired by his cowardly boss was hysterical. Then you have J.K. Simmons, one of this year’s best used character actors thanks to his work in “Extract” and “Jennifer’s Body” among other films. As Bob, J.K. gives his suddenly jobless character a morbid sense of humor as he manages to contain himself in his understandably pissed off state. When George Clooney ends up making Bob see that this is not an end but a beginning, Simmons takes his character from depressed to somewhat aroused with possibilities he thought were long lost to him. He is onscreen for only a couple of minutes, but J.K. Simmons infuses his role with a dry sense of humor that makes his performance so memorably great.

That’s one of the things I really loved about “Up In The Air;” the characters are very complex even if they’re not onscreen for very long. We may have the stereotypical traits of each character nailed into our heads, but they keep revealing different parts of their personalities that we didn’t see coming. Once we have these characters figured out, another layer is revealed which affects their relationships with one another as well as the dynamics between them. I would love it if more movies allowed to have more multi-faceted characters in them instead of just succumbing to one-dimensional freaks who exist to annoy the hell out of you (but enough of “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” already!).

“Up In The Air” will definitely be on my list of the best movies of 2009. It is funny and moving, and endlessly entertaining. With this film, George Clooney completes what has truly been a great holiday season for him along with “The Men Who Stare At Goats” and “The Fantastic Mr. Fox.” It even has a cameo by Young MC singing his biggest hit “Bust a Move.” I have say that he has put on a lot of weight since the late 80’s. I should talk though…

**** out of ****

“More of this is true than you would believe.”

You know, it’s really nice to see a movie use a phrase other than “based on a true story” or “inspired by true events.” Those descriptions have all but lost their meaning ages ago because even if what we’re seeing actually did happen, it has all been watered down into a formulaic feel good movie that we have seen over and over again to where we want to gag. Even worse, we keep getting suckered into seeing those same movies even when we should know better. Either that, or there’s nothing better to watch (or your latest rental fro Netflix hasn’t arrived yet). But this year has been great in subverting those worthless phrases with movies like “The Informant.” That one made clear that it was based on actual events but that certain parts had been fictionalized, and it ended by saying:

“So there!”

Now we have “The Men Who Stare At Goats,” one of the many George Clooney movies that we will be seeing this holiday season. It opens with the sentence at the top of this review. The story behind this one is so bizarre to where it’s almost impossible to believe that any of what we’re seeing could ever have happened. But it appears that a good portion of these happenings did take place, and it makes for what is truly one of the more unique war movies I have seen in awhile. The film is based on a (you’ve heard it) non-fiction book by Jon Ronson which looked at how US military forces used psychic powers against their enemies. They look at New Age concepts as well as activities of the paranormal to achieve these goals, and of how they worked to use these methods to their advantage (assuming of course that this is all true). The movie takes place in the backdrop if the Iraq war, but not to worry, this movie is not trying to shove any politics down your throat (not consciously anyway).

Jon himself serves as the inspiration for the character of Bob Wilton, an investigative journalist played by Ewan McGregor. Bob’s wife has just left him for his editor, and of course he is depressed and decides that he needs to do something more important with his life (in hopes he can get her back). As a result, he travels to Kuwait to do first hand reporting of the war in Iraq, with hopes of finding someone who can get him across the border. Bob ends up having a chance meeting with a Special Forces operator named Lyn Cassady who was in the military, but who now runs a dance studio. Lyn ends up revealing to Bob that he was part of an American unit that was trained to be psychic spies, or as he eventually calls them, “Jedi warriors.” From there, Bob will learn all about this special unit that you’d think could only have existed in a science fiction novel.

I love the irony of all the talk about “Jedi warriors” here, especially since Ewan McGregor played one in the “Star Wars” prequels.

Anyway, “The Men Who Stare At Goats” is really a cross between a war movie and a road movie as Lyn and Bob traverse the sandy dunes of the Middle East to where not everything is as it appears. It’s also a mix of comedy and drama the same way “Three Kings,” another movie which starred George Clooney, was. While the tone of the movie is largely uneven, especially towards the end, this was definitely an inspired film that kept me entertained throughout, and which was also quite unpredictable for the most part.

Ewan McGregor is playing the main character here, but let’s face it, George Clooney steals the show right out from under his feet. His performance as Lyn Cassady is truly one of his most surprising in his creation of it. Despite how ridiculous he may seem Clooney plays him straight and never appears to be self-conscious. Seeing him trying to burst clouds with his mind, and trying to reach into his enemy’s mind by staring right at them has Clooney going through emotions ranging from serious to funny and to downright tragic. Having gone from playing roles in more dramatic movies like “Syriana” to “Michael Clayton” among others, George Clooney once again shows that he is also really good at comedy and never has to strive too hard for a laugh.

I don’t want to take away from Ewan McGregor though, who does manage to pull off a convincing American accent. In many ways, his role is more of a reactionary one as he is subjected to conditions he could never have fully prepared for. As Bob Wilton, he is bewildered at what Lyn is telling him, and yet he still wants to journey further and further into this guy’s head. I also have to give Ewan a lot of credit because he could have made it look like he was consciously aware of all those “Star Wars” references, but he never did. Had he, it would have taken us out of this film completely. May the force be with him!

But one of the great delights of “The Men Who Stare At Goats” is watching Jeff Bridges channel that inner-dudeness that made him so popular after “The Big Lebowski.” Jeff plays Bill Django, a military leader who after being wounded in Vietnam has a New Age vision of a kind of combat he wants to develop. This leads him to study concepts which he incorporates into a special unit called the New Earth Army. Bill becomes a teacher of using non-lethal techniques to gain advantage over the enemy, and his training techniques are unorthodox to say the least. Bridges plays the character broadly, but not too broadly. As funny as the character is, Bridges infuses Django with a disappointment that threatens to render him useless to those around him, and with a deep sense of fear and tragedy as his techniques are misused or taken advantage of by those who seek to profit from them. Once again, Jeff Bridges remains one of the most underrated actors ever.

Having been in London doing tons of theater, it seemed like it would require a herculean effort to bring Kevin Spacey back to the big screen. Granted, he has been in a few films recently, but none that has drawn the attention of the masses like he did in “The Usual Suspects” or “American Beauty.” So seeing Spacey here is a kick as he plays the real antagonist of the film, Larry Hooper. Larry is basically the Darth Vader to Bridge’s Obi Wan Kenobi and Clooney’s Luke Skywalker as he takes the non-lethal methods of the New Earth Army and ends up using them for more lethal purposes. Hooper ends up doing this not so much out of greed as he does resentment since Django does not consider him in the same light as he does Lyn. His actions bring about the downfall of the New Earth Army, and he turns all these abilities they developed into something far more insidious. From there, you will see why the movie and the book it is based on has the title it does.

Kevin has great fun as he channels the inner smugness that has enveloped his character over time, and which some say he has become well known for off screen as well as on (I don’t hang out with him, so I can’t say for sure). While his role is a little more serious than the others, he still has great moments of comedy that remind us of what a talented actor he is (as if that could ever have been in doubt). Spacey does a great work of balancing out the serious and comedic aspects of his character without tilting too much in one direction.

The movie was directed by Grant Heslov, George Clooney’s business partner on many films including the brilliant “Good Night and Good Luck” which he co-wrote. Heslov has his work cut out for him here as he must find a balance between the humorous and dramatic aspects of the story. Granted, he doesn’t always succeed but he creates a most unusual war movie, and it is all the more entertaining because of that. Even more telling is the way he shows off the Iraqi people in certain scenes. They are not all portrayed as gun toting terrorists, and he captures the look of their helplessness in having to deal with a military occupation they did not ask for.

Like I said, there’s no serious politicizing of the Iraq war or any other war in this movie, so don’t feel like you are walking into some sort of trap. Like “The Hurt Locker,” it merely focuses on what those Americans in Iraq are doing in the midst of all this chaos, albeit this one probes it in a slightly more comical way. “The Men Who Stare At Goats” seems almost far too bizarre to be real, but a part of you just might want it to be (to a certain extent anyway). One thing’s for sure, you will never look at “Barney and Friends” in the same way ever again, assuming you ever watched it in the first place (c’mon! Don’t deny it!).

***½ out of ****

WOW! That was quick! It was just a year ago that the directing duo of the Coen brothers gave us the best movie of 2007, “No Country For Old Men.” A lot of other directors usually take years between projects, hoping to distance themselves from the undying praise that threatens to engulf their careers and have them forever be judged to their previous achievement. But the Coen brothers didn’t bother to wait that long to release their newest film, “Burn After Reading.” It follows the tradition of the Coen Brothers of making a movie that is the polar opposite of the movie they did before it. Every review has mentioned of how these guys went from making “Fargo” to giving us “The Big Lebowski,” and how they went from “The Man Who Wasn’t There” to “Intolerable Cruelty.” With the Coens, it is always important to expect the unexpected; because that is one of the many reasons why they have had the longevity they have in this business.

I’m not going to bother comparing their newest film to “No Country For Old Men” because the only thing these two movies have in common is that they were made by the same people. It’s like comparing the Marx Brothers’ “Duck Soup” to Lars Von Trier’s “Breaking The Waves,” and that threatens to say more about the critic than it does about the movies themselves. This particular film is one of the more lightweight efforts you could ever expect from Joel and Ethan, and it is a reminder of how dark their comedy can get.

“Burn After Reading” is a crazy movie to say the least, and it does not really have so much a plot as it does a plethora of characters that are unleashed on us through an a selfish act of utter stupidity. As a result, there is no rug of any kind that can tie the room together. The main drive of the action comes from Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt) who discovers a disk at the gym he works at as a personal trainer which contains classified information from a former CIA operative, Osborne Cox (John Malkovich). Along with his fellow co-worker, Linda Litzke (the always on her game Frances McDormand), they both connive to act as “good Samaritans” and give the disk back to Osborne, providing that he pays them several thousands of dollars as a reward of sorts. Naturally, this plan (which was not given much thought to begin with) goes awry and involves many others in this scheme that are never entirely sure of what they have gotten themselves into, or of who they can trust.

Let’s look at the characters, shall we? Chad is a personal trainer at the Hardbodies gym who is (to put it mildly) rather dense and not playing with a full deck. His manager, Ted Treffon (Richard Jenkins from “The Visitor” and “North Country) doesn’t want to get involved in this blackmail plan, but he simultaneously has a huge unrequited crush on Linda, and she is upset because her insurance won’t cover the various forms of plastic surgery she wants to get so that she can reinvent herself. In the meantime, she is going through the motions of internet dating and ends up meeting Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney). Harry is actually married and is in the midst of an affair with Osborne’s wife, Katie (“Michael Clayton” Oscar winner Tilda Swinton), and she herself is planning to divorce her husband who is now in the midst of writing his memoirs. In the midst of all this, a CIA officer (David Rasche) reports to his superior (the priceless J.K. Simmons) of the goings on, and of the ways they are going to keep this all under wraps.

With me so far? Clearly, this is a movie that will benefit from more than one viewing to keep up with everything. Like I said, there is no real plot to speak of, other than the blackmail of Osborne Cox. While in some movies this would be a huge Achilles heel, it works for the Coens in that it allows you to keep guessing as to what will happen next. Just when you think you know where the movie is going, it has another surprise up its sleeve. There were moments that were both funny and shocking, and I was eager to see what would happen next. This is really Joel and Ethan’s satirical at all those secret spy/espionage books and movies that still remain almost as popular as when they first started.

Granted, not everything in the movie works. There seems to be some sort of comedy virus going around this past summer which certainly hasn’t decimated any of the ones I have seen, but they have all come across as hit and miss. But once again, the stuff that does work kept me thoroughly entertained throughout. The movie combines a lot of actors that the brothers Coen have worked with over the years like George Clooney and Frances McDormand, with newcomers to their strange universe like John Malkovich and Brad Pitt. It’s a kick to see all these actors let their hair down in a movie that is never to be taken seriously by either them or the audience.

The most inspired performance in this movie has to be Brad Pitt’s. Clean shaven, thin, buff, and an avid bicycle rider, his character is a hilarious creation of a physically fit moron who has no clear idea of just how in over his head he is. It is Brad’s funniest performance since his ultimate stoner of a character Floyd in “True Romance.” The Brad Pitt that we have come to see in the media recently is not at all on display in this movie. It’s like Brad has somehow regressed from his rugged self back to his post “Thelma & Louise” movies.

Another actor who is a huge kick to watch here is George Clooney as he blows away just every bit of coolness in his system to play an increasingly neurotic philanderer who always seems to be on the verge of anaphylactic shock as he keeps warning everyone he hangs out with about his life threatening allergies. Just a year ago, George gave us one of his very best performances in “Michael Clayton,” and to see him let loose here is a reminder of how he constantly tries in his real life to not take himself too seriously. It also makes you wonder if he and Tilda Swinton will ever be in a movie together where they play characters that actually have a healthy relationship with each other.

It’s actually kind of hard to see that this is the first time that John Malkovich has ever worked with the Coen brothers. Malkovich lets it all out here as CIA operative who quits his job after he is demoted in part because of his “drinking problem.” To see John got nuts over the complete idiots he has to deal with is such a hoot. Not many actors can play a character that is quick to absorb the situation they are in, yet are still in the dark when it comes to the truth of the matter. Malkovich may prefer the stage to the big screen as an artist, but it is always great to see him do his thing in a movie like this. It may be his most inspired performance since he played himself in “Being John Malkovich.”

The rest of the cast brings their A game to movie as well. Frances McDormand, in her first movie with Joel and Ethan since her Oscar winning turn in “Fargo,” is one of the movie’s more lovable characters (in a manner of speaking) as a woman who wants to be free of the ravages of getting older that she plans to go to unhealthy extremes to get them. Give Frances the smallest role in a movie, and she kicks ass every time. The fact that it took so long for her husband and brother-in-law to get her back into one of their movies almost feels like a crime.

Richard Jenkins seems to be having a great year right now with “The Visitor” and this. He gives us perhaps the saddest character we hope we don’t have to be throughout our whole lives. You know, that one person who is forever punished eternally with the pangs of unrequited love. Throughout the movie, Richard shows you in his eyes of how much he wants to be with Frances. Jenkins seems to be getting his due as a character actor which is great, and he never seems to fail in any role he plays.

And I loved the scenes between David Rasche and J.K. Simmons in the offices of the CIA and how flippant they seemed about the situations in this movie. I have yet to see another movie where you have CIA members seem rather laid back in the decisions they make. It never comes down to what is best for their country to these two guys, but of how to make this not get too overwhelming and hectic. Their inconvenience is the biggest problem because it involves secrets getting out, and of more responsibility and paperwork. Who needs that?

“Burn After Reading” is a comedy classic like “The Big Lebowski” or “Raising Arizona,” and it probably won’t have the staying power of those films either. But it sure is a lot of fun and filled with a lot more daring and originality than some movies that I have seen recently (namely “Righteous Kill”). Many have described it as a “trifle” from the Coens, and that doesn’t seem far from the truth. All the same, you have to admire the insane amount of character interaction that this movie accomplishes. Just when everything is about to fall apart for everybody, it does, just not completely.

***1/2 out of ****