Burn After Reading

Year: 2008
Directors: Joel & Ethan Coen
Cast: George Clooney, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Brad Pitt, Tilda Swinton, Richard Jenkins


I'm probably the only movie fan in the world that's not familiar with the Coen brothers' work. I am aware that they are well known for making quirky and dark films, one of which won them multiple Oscars last year. No Country For Old Men is not readily understandable but it stands on its own as a tour de force of a film. But most people who can appreciate the Coens' work would probably give Burn After Reading the thumbs up.

So let me try my best to tell you about this little movie that the Coens wrote while they were working on No Country. Burn After Reading begins at the CIA headquarters, where senior analyst Osbourne Cox (John Malkovich) has been unceremoniously demoted by his superiors. Dissatisfied with his demotion, Osbourne proceeds to write his memoirs and experiences with the CIA, all the while struggling to keep his marriage from falling apart.

Then his memoirs, which is kept on digital CD, somehow end up in the hands of two unscrupulous gym employees, Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt) and Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand). Chad, thinking that the information on the disc is sensitive, teams up with Linda to blackmail Osbourne for money. Linda especially pushes for the plan because she is obsessed about undergoing plastic surgery to look beautiful, and the money would help pay for it. Meanwhile, Linda is also desperately seeking the right man, and strikes up a relationship with Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney), a Treasury Department agent who is not only married, but is also a serial philanderer who happens to be having an affair with Osbourne's wife Katie (Tilda Swinton).

All these people and the gym manager, Ted (Richard Jenkins) cross each other's paths and things go from silly to bad to worse, and ultimately destructive. But it's supposed to be funny.

Unlike No Country For Old Men, the Coens turn the darkness into one big weird film about how stupid some people can be, and how it can get worse from there. The script isn't exactly sharp from beginning to end, but it manages to entertain to a certain level.

The cast perform well overall, but the standout actor is Pitt, who makes Chad the only likeable character in the film. I mean, have you ever went to the gym and seen big muscular guys with big hair who look like studs but talk like they have nothing upstairs? Pitt is THAT guy, only not so big. It's amazing how he can play against type so perfectly.

The film's downside is that it doesn't have that many laugh inducing moments, at least not for me. I know it's meant to be a dark comedy, but it can do just a tad more with being funny than being weird. Maybe it would help if the Coens made the characters more likeable, or at least have an outstanding quality of some kind. But then again, what do I know about the Coen brothers' work?

Perhaps I should go watch The Big Lebowski. Someone said it was funny. It's probably better than this film. (3/5)