As we've learned all too well over the past few years, intelligence is very hard to come by in Washington. In Joel and Ethan Coen's "Burn After Reading", a case of political intrigue in the nation's capital is complicated by some profoundly dim people. The film is a return of sorts to the Coens' penchant for slapstick and gunplay. Both goofy and dark, "Burn" lies somewhere between the violence of the Coens' "Fargo" and the oddball quirkiness of "The Big Lebowski".
John Malkovich plays Osbourne "Ozzy" Cox, a CIA analyst recently ousted from the intelligence community. Depressed and disillusioned, he holes up in his Georgetown townhouse writing what he claims will be an incendiary memoir, but he mostly drinks and watches TV. To his icicle of a wife, Katie (a wonderfully brittle Tilda Swinton), his current failure is just one in a long succession of disappointments. Unbeknownst to Ozzie, Katie has been consoling herself in the arms of boorish, married U.S. Marshall Harry Pfaffer (George Clooney). Plotting her divorce, Katie copies Ozzie's financial files from his computer — and inadvertently, his memoirs.
When a copy of the "secret" files turns up in a locker room in a suburban gym, employees Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt) and Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand) see an opportunity. Linda, in particular, is looking for a financial windfall. She's convinced herself the secret to her future happiness is extensive plastic surgery. When lunk-headed trainer Chad proposes they hit up the author for money, Linda is only too happy to go along — much to the dismay of Tom (Richard Jenkins), the gym manager secretly in love with Linda. As Chad and Linda embark on their ill-conceived plan, they set in motion a series of unfortunate and increasingly foolish events.
As in the majority of Coen films, the actors are given quite a lot of scenery to chew. In "Burn After Reading", each character is endowed with a bounty of quirks and affectations. John Malkovich is in fine form as the soused and sarcastic Ozzie, spewing his words like machine gun fire while Tilda Swinton's Katie would freeze even the White Witch with a single, withering look. Coen regular Frances McDormand is given a blunt blonde bob and and an even blunter delivery as the hopelessly single-minded Linda. Another Coen regular, George Clooney again plays the guy with the big mouth, but this time, he's got a libido to match. Brad Pitt has scarcely been more entertaining than when sporting frosted tips and spandex to play the doltish gym trainer, Chad. Richard Jenkins's sympathetic turn as Tom and J.K. Simmons' small but hilarious role as a flummoxed CIA chief round out the collection of fine performances.
Though "Burn After Reading" delivers some big laughs, it's not without missteps. In their past films — "Fargo", in particular — the Coen Brothers have shown their ability to tread the line between slapstick and film noir. "Burn", on the other hand, takes a long time to find its feet. For the greater part of the film, it veers wildly in tone from cartoonish buffoonery to spy thriller and Greek tragedy. Gratefully, the Coens finally hit their stride in the third act, when this oddball collection of characters and plot lines spectacularly dovetail into a conflagration of gross misjudgments and ineptitude.
It's unlikely that "Burn After Reading" will reach the heights of last year's Oscar winner, "
No Country For Old Men", but it's a satisfying palate cleanser — a fun bit of hijinkery that will no doubt tide over Coen Brothers fans until the next "serious" project comes along.
