After the Coen brothers scored four Academy Awards for their engrossing and loyal depiction of Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men, it’s no surprise they were ready to return to the laughs. After all, the workaholic filmmakers have been known as creators of the Dude (Lebowski), and students of devilish absurdity and old time yarn spinning (Barton Fink and O Brother… respectively) before they made oxygen tanks look dubious. Hence, Burn After Reading a palette cleanser, if not a complete return to form.
The world of Burn After Reading seems familiar at first glance. The soundtrack is populated with all the pounding percussion and discordant string sweeps one would expect in an espionage thriller. It even has a C.I.A. agent (John Malkovich), adultery (George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Malkovich again), and Russians (some guy named Krupa). From the movie poster up these are all merely dressings for comic genius and taking the piss out of the genre.
Along with this talented ensemble of actors also comes Frances McDormand as Linda, an employee of a fitness center who sets the pseudo-suspense in motion. But the surprise trump comes from Brad Pitt as Chad. Here is Pitt playing a character we haven’t seen him play; devoid of romantic interest, perpetually clad in bike shorts and fitness uniform, bumbling and dorky. It’s enough to make you stop between laughs and ask if Pitt’s comic timing is really so great, or if it’s just funny to see Brad Pitt play such a half-wit.
The Coen brothers wield this small army of acting talent to tell a long tale filled with would-be plot twists, building faux tension that leads up to nothing. That is the launch pad for all the laughs. Osborne (Malkovich) is fired from the CIA for his apparent mediocrity and constant drinking. Linda tries to blackmail him to pay for a breast augmentation. When Chad is pinned in a closet hiding from Harry (Clooney) the silent suspense is disarmed by Pitt’s gum chewing and whistling nose.
As these character’s paths twist in to an absurd knot and the plot pointlessly thickens, the pace increases with the hilarity until the shoulder-shrugging conclusion leaves you smiling. J.K. Simmons sums thing up as both CIA agent-in-charge and Greek chorus: “What do we learn?….I dunno. I guess not to do it again….. but, what did we even do?”
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Ha, I agree completely with your comment about Brad Pitt. He’s one of those Hollywood figures that isn’t famous for his acting, but rather for his movie star persona and “hot body”.