“Burn After Reading” — CIA analyst Osborne Cox (John Malkovich) is told that he is being demoted and transferred, in part because he has a drinking problem. Outraged, he quits, retreats to his posh Georgetown rowhouse to have a drink and tell his wife (Tilda Swinton), who is having an affair with Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney). Cox, a yacht-owning Princeton alum who’s convinced he’s the smartest guy in town, reacts to his career crisis by dictating his memoirs. These wind up at Hardbodies Gym and in the hands of dense personal trainer Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt) and his upbeat colleague Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand), who ransom his classified material. Oh, the high-octane cast works hard. But there’s nothing to suggest anybody off camera tried that hard, which is fatal to a Coen brothers outing. Contains pervasive language, sexual content and violence. DVD Extras: Featurettes; also available in widescreen and on Blu-ray, which has extra BD Live scene-sharing featurettes. Rating: Three stars. (R)

“Death Race” — If a movie could drag its knuckles on the ground, this one would. The film, starring Jason Statham as an ex-con, is supposedly based on the 1975 cult favorite “Death Race 2000,” which involved a savage cross-country road rally in heavily armored cars. Although some critics detected elements of satire and political commentary in the original, all of that has been successfully eliminated from the current model. It isn’t so much a movie as a superheated, highly conductive miracle substance for the pure transmission of masculine aggression and misogyny. Contains strong violence and language. DVD Extras: Featurettes, director’s commentary. Rating: One-half star. (R)

“Hamlet 2” — This dazzling little comedy seems, at first glance, to be having a lot of fun with the stock figures of the high school musical and inspirational teacher flicks. But Noah Sapperstein, a diminutive, ninth-grade drama critic played by Shea Pepe, quotes the French literary critic Roland Barthes and all but begs you to take the film seriously as social commentary. Sapperstein’s devastating reviews target Dana Marschz (Steve Coogan), a hapless man-child and talentless actor spinning out the tail end of his high school drama fantasies into incipient middle age. He will save the drama program, save his own job and expand minds by staging a grand musical extravaganza: an acid-trip version of “Hamlet.” Marschz’s musical is a lot of self-indulgent piffle, and that’s the point: Something is rotten in the Denmark of arts education, and it may well be bad art. Contains language including sexual references, nudity and drug content. DVD Extras: Featurettes, commentary, deleted scenes; also available on Blu-ray. Rating: Three stars. (R)

“The Women” —This remake of George Cukor’s sparkling 1939 all-female comedy set in New York City falls flat at every turn. Given its cast, which includes Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Cloris Leachman and Bette Midler, this is nothing short of amazing. Ryan plays Mary Haines, the girl next door living in blissful ignorance of her husband’s infidelity. Bening stars as Mary’s best friend, Sylvia Fowler, Rosalind Russell’s role in Cukor’s film. Bening has been given the broadest, sitcom laugh lines. But she doesn’t go for laughs. She wants to be loved. Surprisingly, it is Candice Bergen, as Mary’s mother, who brings depth and humanity to the film. In the end, director Diane English just wants to make a nice chick flick with some sassy lines. Contains sex-related material and drug use. DVD Extras: Deleted scenes, featurettes; also available on Blu-ray. Rating: Three stars.(PG-13)

COMING UP: Movies scheduled for national release on Dec. 30 include “The Duchess,” “Eagle Eye” and “Ghost Town.” Check with local video stores for availability.

— The Washington Post (Ratings by Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times)

The Associated Press

Steve Coogan plays a hapless yet determined high school theater teacher in “Hamlet 2.”