Fargo meets the CIA

Rating: 8/10 (27 October 2008)

When the Coen Brothers deliver comedy, it's usually not the belly-laugh kind of humor. Their humor is more subtle, resulting from the activities of ordinary humans caught up in ordinary life situations. BURN AFTER READING is no exception. I took away 2 stars for only one reason - that I've seen the "basic" plot done before (and done better).
The basic plot - a CIA employee is called into his supervisor's office to be given a demotion. The CIA employee then decides to leave the agency and write his memoirs. Afterward, all hell breaks loose. This is the basic plot behind BURN AFTER READING ... but is also the same basic plot behind the 1980 film, HOPSCOTCH.
But back to BURN AFTER READING. The motivating force behind the plot has less to do with the CIA analyst's memoirs and more to do with one woman's fierce determination to raise enough money to pay for four cosmetic surgical procedures. It would not be a spoiler to say that, by the end of the film, she gets her wish. This is because the complicated maze of intrigue and farce needed to achieve that end is what propels the film.
Again, the Coen Brothers deliver a solid film that connects all the dots of plot in such a way that it entertains - in a deadpan way, perhaps, but that's their forte. I only differ with other reviewers in one respect. I think the MOST solid performance was delivered by John Malkovich ... who plays the somewhat manic CIA analyst whose memoirs create deadly headaches for himself and a number of others who come into contact with those memoirs - directly or otherwise.