Marjorie Baumgarten

This comedy of errors is a piercing cultural commentary that examines large issues like the indignity of foreign aid and smaller issues like human vanity and pride. It satirizes African red tape and bureaucracy and casts a gently probing eye toward squabbling tribal differences.

This Coen brothers film is a goofy ode to genres and eras gone by. Although it’s a little less “weird” than much of their work, it still retains a mannered and quirky air with performances that walk a line between realism and understated surreality.