My Rating – 6/10
I was hoping for an afternoon of laughter, but had only a chuckle or two throughout the whole movie, which is no more more than a mish-mash of many other movies and roles. It is what you get when you take the tone of “Raising Arizona” and “O Brother, Where Art Thou” and mix them with the violence of “Blood Simple” and “No Country for Old Men.” Tilda Swinton plays a variation of her role from “Michael Clayton.” George Clooney plays a variation of his character from “O Brother.” Brad Pitt plays a variation of his role from “Twelve Monkeys.” And John Malkovich plays yet another variation on his obnoxious self (see every movie he has ever made save “Places from the Heart”).
To say I was disappointed in the movie is to put it mildly, and I almost always love the Coens work. For me the only truly funny scenes in the film were those featuring J. K. Simmons as a CIA superior officer, and those were too few and too far between.
***** Spoiler Alert*****
Of course, I didn’t really mind it all when Brad Pitt met his maker with a bullet to the head. That was worth watching. ; )
Last 3 posts in film
- The New “Star Trek” Movie - November 17th, 2008
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Movie Trailer - November 7th, 2008
- One of My Favorite Movies: Terry Gilliam’s “The Fisher King” - September 3rd, 2008
Last 3 posts in review
- A Short Book Review: Twilight by Stephanie Meyer - July 19th, 2008
- Across the Universe - A Short Review - October 25th, 2007
- Something Wonderful to Read - Bob Rogers: Final Frontier Final - July 29th, 2007







movie buff wrote,
Brad Pitt can be so funny, as long as he’s not taking himself too seriously… in any case, it’s about time someone made good use of his, habitually spastic arm movements
Link | September 20th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Will wrote,
movie buff,
Thanks for your comment, and though I didn’t like the movie as much as I wanted to, I agree wholeheartedly with your asessment of Brad Pitt. I have added your blog to my blogroll under “film.”
Link | September 20th, 2008 at 1:55 pm