Burn After Reading (2008)

Burn After Reading has two things you'd expect from a Coen brothers movie: dark humor and Frances McDormand. The fault lies in the marketing as to how laugh out loud funny this movie is. The trailers, the commercials - both portray it as the most uproariously funny thing you'd see in 2008. It is not. What we're looking at is dark - very dark.

Two gym employees, Linda (Frances McDormand) and Chad (Brad Pitt), find the memoirs of a recently laid off fed agent (John Malkovich) on a cd in the locker room. They mistake this for top secret information and set to sell it back to its owner. The disc actually belonged to the agent's wife (Tilda Swinton), who was trying to find info about him for their upcoming divorce.

What follows is generally people acting horribly to each other and lots of patented Malkovich yelling. When physical violence erupts it is intense - also a Coen trademark. Richard Jenkins steals a bit of the limelight as Linda and Chad's powerless boss Ted while J. K. Simmons brings a little straight-laced humor in his brief scenes as an agency superior. And if anyone is actually goofy funny, it's Brad Pitt who brings a much needed lightness to the story. Still, overall not much of a comedy.

Rating: 3/5
Recommended for: Adults who'd watch anything that has the Coen brothers' name on it.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008)

Days must have been longer in late 1930s London. Miss Pettigrew certainly has a long one in this story of an out-of-work nanny who sidesteps her way into the screwy world of aspiring American actress, Delysia Lafosse, under the assumption that she's a renowned social secretary.

Frances McDormand plays the title character with demure wisdom that builds over the course of the film. This contrasts a bit with the actual pace of the movie which picks up double time from Delysia's first appearance for a whirlwind ride all the way to the finish.

Amy Adams' Delysia is a slight offshoot from her typical innocent living in her own world; it's difficult not to feel a little bad for her even though her dilemma is entirely her own fault. As Miss Pettigrew skillfully assists her in balancing three boyfriends - a controlling nightclub owner, a pushover play producer, and a lovesick piano player - we're treated to a glitzy view of pre-war London. Much of it comes off like a stage production but there are some good shots that pull the audience into the 4th wall. One of those is the circle of relationships shot during Delysia and Michael's treatment of "If I Didn't Care". Overall this is mainly a fluffy piece with no real underlying message but an enjoyable sprint through what must have been an exhausting day 70 years in the making.

Rating: 3/5
Recommended for: Women and men alike looking for 90 minutes of light laughs