After scoring the Oscar for Best Picture and Best Director for No Country for Old Men, Joel and Ethan Coen are back with a new film. But this time, they've returned to doing black comedy — a genre they perfected at the start of their careers (Raising Arizona, Miller's Crossing, Barton Fink).

Burn After Reading is a delicious black comedy about a pair of buffoons (Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt) working in a gym who chance upon a computer disk on the locker-room floor. The CD contains information written by a former CIA analyst whom the duo believe to be super-important.

They promptly try to blackmail him, but their schemes go terribly wrong. One by one, the bodies start to pile up...

Now, a lot of American critics have expressed dismay at this post-Oscar effort, saying that it is nowhere near the masterpiece that is No Country for Old Men. Well, we at Fridae prefer to judge a film on its individual merits and we found Burn After Reading delightfully sardonic and original.

No, it won't assure the Coen brothers of yet another Oscar. Nor will it please the reel snobs. But it should entertain the casual moviegoer who simply wants an original plot, a funny script and good comedic acting. And indeed, the sterling cast of actors (George Clooney, Brad Pitt, John Malcovich, Tilda Swinton and Frances McDormand) delivers good convincing performances.

A very minor gem — but a gem nonetheless.