Burn After Reading

After the darkness of "No Country for Old Men," the Coen brothers eased up with this deadpan espionage farce played out by small fish convinced that they are in deep waters. George Clooney is the ostensible lead as a charmingly glib and very married federal marshal whose job never seems to interfere with his numerous affairs, but Frances McDormand drives the ensemble comedy as a desperately single woman determined to get a plastic surgery makeover at any cost. It may be a lark but it is pitch-perfect and the performances are priceless, from John Malkovich as a doofus CIA vet with delusions of adequacy to Brad Pitt as a cheerfully idiotic personal trainer. The supplements are pretty slim: three general featurettes running less than 20 minutes total. But then, the Coens have never been all that eager to explain themselves on DVD extras.