I'm sure you have met that guy or girl; The Know-It-All, the person who thinks he/she can formulate a plan and have it go well, only to have it collapse in their hands. This characteristic is the basis of the Coen Brothers' new movie, Burn After Reading, a satire of spy movies involving people who think they are intelligent enough to carry through with a plan, only to have it fall apart. The movie opens up with Osbourne Cox (John Malkovich), who held a high position in the CIA, being laid off from that position due to his drinking problem. While not being fired from the CIA, Cox angrily retires to focus on writing a memoir of his experiences in the Agency, much to the dismay of his wife, Katie (Tilda Swinton). What Osbourne does not know is that Katie is cheating on Osbourne with Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney) who is not only a womanizer despite being married, but is insanely paranoid and obsessed with what he is working on in his basement. What the story ultimately comes down to is a CD filled with inserts of Osbourne's memoirs and CIA information, which is in the hands of two fitness instructors, Chad (Brad Pitt) and Linda (Frances McDormand), who blackmails Osbourne for money so Linda can get cosmetic surgery. Confused yet? I wish I could say it gets clearer as we go, but I would be lying. In fact, it only gets more complicated from there.
In a lesser movie, the story would have been reduced to either hard drama or hard comedy. The Coen Brothers did a fantastic job here by trying to find the balance between the two while focusing on what this movie's greatest strength: Its characters. Granted, the characters are morons. However, what they do is based on their own actions, not the direction of the Coen Brothers, who allows the characters to follow their path of idiocy through its end. This gives the characters an extra natural layer of depth, with further layers added by a wonderfully hilarious A-list cast. Malkovich's Osbourne Cox is so explosively angry, you wonder when the final straw that breaks the camel's back will appear. Chad, played by Pitt, is so off the wall and erratic that you know there is no possible way he can succeed in blackmailing and extortion. He tries his best, however, just so he can help out his friend and co-worker, Linda, who is going through a midlife crisis, thinking that the only way she can get a man is by going to online dating websites and getting lipo for her ass. McDormand not only plays this role realistically, but hilariously due to the self-centered mindset. George Clooney's role as Harry is a fine example of a person slipping further into dementia as the narrative unfolds, even if his "project" is not a clear indication of it. While people may see it as a lesser role, Chad and Linda's boss, Ted (Richard Jenkins), does well representing the regular Joe who knows better, tries to set a good example, but ultimately slips just to remain on the good graces of Linda, who is oblivious to Ted's attraction to her. It is this cast, their interaction onscreen, and their ability to bring their characters to life that manages to carry what could have been an uneven story. There is quite a bit going on in this relatively short movie (Around 90 minutes), and thankfully the Coen Brothers were able to exercise their mastery without fail.
As the clock winds down, characters die, some find themselves in inescapable situations, while others simply leap over the railing of sanity. How any of these characters can do what they did and make sense of it is beyond anybody watching. I guess that is the point. While not as depressing as the Coen Brother's last film, No Country for Old Men, it does deliver a similar message; How can people be so foolish? Why is it that whenever people have "bright ideas" that falls apart, they continue to push and hope for the best when the reality of it is anything but peachy?
Midway through the movie, we are greeted by a CIA top honcho played by J.K. Simmons who asks one of his agents to report back to him when the whole mess makes sense. Once we are at the twilight of the final Act, Simmons swiftly stops the story and attempts to summarize the whole ordeal. "Well, what did we learn?" says Simmons, confused and bewildered. The agent, just as confused as Simmons, states that maybe it should not happen again. We would like to hope that people should stop getting into strange and senseless situations, but you know and can tell from both characters onscreen that its not going to happen. However, it does give the Coen Brothers plenty of material to work with for whatever they have up their sleeves down the road. I, for one, cannot wait.