Burn After Reading: 5/10

I had high hopes for the Coen Brothers latest creation. Sadly, they were dashed during the course of this nonsensical 96-minute caper. There were some humorous moments: I laughed out loud when George Clooney's character showed off his handiwork to Frances McDormand, whom he was illicitly dating. But the rest of Burn After Reading was just slapstick, masquerading as intelligent satire - and not very good slapstick at that (though Brad Pitt's turn as an idiotic, iPod-addicted personal trainer is enjoyable enough while it lasts). The violence is gratuitous and about as funny as Javier Bardem's assassinations in No Country for Old Men. And I emerged from the cinema feeling empty, disappointed and cheated by the sheep-like reviews that have followed this film ever since its debut. If only they'd burned this film before reading, then I wouldn't have lost an evening of my life.