“Appearances can be... deceptive.”

Until 1871 The City of Washington and the District of Columbia were tow separate entities. One was your average city and the other served as the seat of the government of the United States. As a result of this merger, Washington D.C. became one of the most bi-polar places in America. It also became the perfect setting for the Coen Brothers’ bi-polar new film “Burn After Reading”.

Many reviews of this film discuss how the Coen Brothers make two types of films. There are the serious ones like “Blood Simple”, “Fargo” and “No Country For Old Men” and then there are the wild and crazy ones like “Raising Arizona”, “The Hudsucker Proxy” and “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” Across the board they all seem to place this film in the latter category. I think it’s a bit more complex than that. “Burn After Reading” is the awesome collision of the Coens’ two distinct sensibilities.

While the two types of Coen Films share a lot in common, there is always one element that distinguishes one from the other and that element is menace. In “The Big Lebowski” nobody is afraid of the nihilists. “No Donny, these men are nihilists, there’s nothing to be afraid of.” On the flip side we have “Miller’s Crossing” where John Turturro’s character Bernie Bernbaum pleads for his life in the woods. “Look in your heart!”

As a result of the merger that is “Burn After Reading” all bets are off and nobody is safe. Characters once thought of as buffoonish can suddenly become driven killing machines and cartoonish characters can die grisly deaths.

Are the Coens' making a statement about the increasingly violent and chaotic world we inhabit? Perhaps. Will this movie leave a fair amount of people angry? Could. Is it funny as hell? You bet your ass!

PS: Bravo to Dermot Mulroney!