Burn After Reading is the latest film from the Coen Brothers, the directing duo behind the critically acclaimed No Country for Old Men. The film involves a blackmail plot, leaked CIA documents and murder, among a number of other dark exploits. Sound serious? Well, it's not, and that's the big joke of the movie: the Coen brothers have crafted another of their trademark "idiot" comedies, and like other such Coen films as The Big Lebowski, Raising Arizona and O Brother, Where are Thou?, Burn After Reading delights in the sheer lunacy and stupidity of its characters. The plot takes off with the discovery of the memoirs of a recently fired CIA agent (John Malkovich) by two dimwitted fitness trainers (Brad Pitt and Frances McDormand), who, thinking the documents contain top secret information, plan to blackmail the agent. However, the kicker is that the memoirs of the low-level CIA agent contain no important secret information and are worth about as much as your old socks.

The film draws its humor from its hysterical characters and their insane interactions with each other. Thankfully, the cast members realize the ridiculousness of the story and their characters and consequently do not hold back. George Clooney, now a Coen brothers regular after O Brother and Intolerable Cruelty, is absolutely hysterical as a womanizer carefully balancing relationships with three women, one of whom is his wife. Clooney paradoxically manages both to restrain himself and go all out; careful not to take the over-the-top dialogue too far, he instead lets the humor come through in his facial expressions. Clooney reveals himself as a subtly talented comedic actor and not just the brooding hero of films like Michael Clayton and Syriana.

Malkovich is also hilarious as an unemployed ex-CIA agent in the midst of a divorce. Here, the Coen brothers have finally allowed the comedic talents he briefly showcased in films like Being John Malkovich to take center stage. McDormand, terrific as always, fits perfectly into the world of the Coens, no doubt in part because she is married to one of them. The rest of the large ensemble cast is equally capable, with Richard Jenkins delivering a knockout performance hot on the heels of his much discussed role in The Visitor.

While the ensemble is uniformly strong, it is Pitt who absolutely steals the show as a dense personal trainer. Pitt's comedic talents have been hinted at in the Ocean's series and in Fight Club, but he has never been as outright uproarious as he is Burn After Reading. He navigates the difficult territory between complete believability and the realm of over-the-top. While later this year Pitt will return to more serious roles in David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, here Pitt shows that he is an equally talented comedic actor as he is a dramatic one.

While Burn After Reading might feel like a step backward for the Coen brothers after last year's Oscar-winning No Country for Old Men, it should be viewed instead as a welcome return to the comedy of idiots they are capable of carrying out so successfully. And, if Burn doesn't live up to Coen classics like The Big Lebowski or Raising Arizona, it certainly manages to surpass their more recent comedies The Ladykillers and Intolerable Cruelty. What those films lacked in appealing characters, this film makes up for with personalities that you care about even as you laugh at their follies. The film also boasts a number of classic Coen flourishes, from its lack of a lesson to be learned to the violence that comes almost arbitrarily and without warning. Finally, Burn stands as a reminder to the tremendous writing prowess of the Coens, who once again show that they are some of the best screenwriters working today. Although Burn After Reading isn't quite a classic, it is still a ton of fun and well worth seeing.