No classic but highly enjoyable nevertheless

Rating: 7/10 (9 November 2008)

The relative failure of "Burn After Reading" after the phenomenal and Oscar-winning success of "No Country for Old Men" says more, I think, of audience and critical expectations than it does of the Coens. It will certainly disappoint anyone expecting them to top "No Country ...", nor does it measure up to anything like their best work. It may move in much the same ball-park as "The Big Lebowski", but without that movie's wit or ingenuity and while the language may lack the consistency of their finer turns of phrase, (a proliferation of profanities is the order of the day here), it's still sharp enough and funny enough to draw you in and keep you entertained. Whether that's down to the Coens or the top-notch cast they've assembled is a moot point. Nevertheless, it remains a highly enjoyable piece of nonsense, splendidly played by splendid players relishing their every corny line.
The plot is one you could write on a pin-head and is daft enough to give the impression it's being made up as you go along. John Malkovitch is a CIA operative who is being put our to pasture. Tilda Swinton is the wife who is divorcing him in favour of George Clooney. Malkovitch is writing his memoirs; Swinton is building up a portfolio of their assets. There is a disc which gets left in a gym and which is found by a very dumb Brad Pitt who automatically assumes it contains state secrets and tries to blackmail Malkovitch. It doesn't! Frances McDormand is involved too, with Pitt in the blackmail scheme, (she's the 'brains' - I don't think so), and romantically with Clooney. A couple of people get killed, shockingly, as violence is something these people seem incapable of, (everyone's too dumb to be violent).
It fairly zips along and like I say, it's splendidly played. By now Clooney has become a first-rate farceur. McDormand has always been a gifted comedienne. Malkovitch goes magnificently over-the-top and Tilda Swinton has a field day playing it mostly straight but with her tongue lodged firmly in her cheek. The real revelation, however, is Brad Pitt as the clumsy blackmailer. In the past Pitt's comic prowess has been somewhat lacking. A continually improving dramatic actor, Pitt has always seemed uncomfortable tackling comedy but here he's on a roll. It takes a keen intelligence to pull off someone as delightfully stupid as Pitt's character, Chad and it's obvious he's having as much fun playing him as we are having watching him.
The film, itself, is no classic, (it's not even classic Coen Brothers), but it's very likable and I have a feeling that it might even improve with age. Aficionados of the Brothers Coen will definitely want to add it to their collection.