Goes Beyond a Screwball Comedy

Rating: 9/10 (21 August 2018)

Sure "Burn After Reading" is a zany screwball comedy written and directed by the Coen Brothers but it goes way beyond the screwball elements of the genre. The casting was well thought of, the plot is surreal and spontaneous and everyone feels at home here. I was especially impressed with Brad Pitt as a thick-haired, gum smacking fitness guru, Chad Feldheimer. I thought he was a great actor, but here he cranks it up a notch and just lights up every time he's on screen. It's a role that's really out of this world.
What I mean by that is that George Clooney and Frances McDormand who are seeking for a relationship in the wrong areas. McDormand plays Linda Litzke, a co-worker with Chad who thing she will find her Mr. Right on the Web even though her physique may not attract a lot, but give her credit for trying. She then turns her attention over to a plastic surgeon and does some incredible work to all various body parts to make her feel good about herself.
George Clooney stars as philandering U.S. Marshal Harry Pfarrer. Harry also seems to be addicted to dating sites and will date anyone that smiles back at him. Harry and Linda introduce themselves and seem very comfortable with each other that is until Linda and Chad find a secretive disc that hold personal information to an Osborne Cox (John Malkovich) a CIA officer who was fired for being inebriated on the job. Cox is married to child doctor named Katie (Tilda Swinton) who's been promiscuous with Harry. And well the plot will likely thicken.
No apologies about it, the plot meanders here, there and everywhere. And sure it wraps up quite nicely, it's not the real reason why this film is incredible. The characters and the dialogue sells by itself. Linda and Chad are great together as they take this top secretive disc to the Russian Embassy which could give them a nice cash reward so that Linda. This leads to the boys and girls over at Langley, Virginia to take charge. The dedicated CIA officer (David Rasche) takes his case to his superior (JK Simmons). The boss has little dialogue, but can deliver a witty punchline.
John Malkovich strikes a chord every time he graces the screen as the ex-CIA official Osborne Cox he's an inebriate who denies himself on those accusations because he remains punctual in a compulsive manner. He's condescending, cue-balled, hates people and impressed how he caught those two plebeians at the gym. Clooney can show he can transform his characters making them very versatile in everything that he does. One minute he's serious and focused, then after a wink of an eye, he can be a moody imbecile. You never what Clooney has in store for us. This marks the third and final line of doofus Clooney comedies that the Coen Brothers starred him in after "Oh, Brother Where Art Thou?" and "Intolerable Cruelty". All the while as much as he can play serious and focused characters it's great that Clooney can take the time to lampoon himself every now and then.
Frances McDormand is very fun to watch here as a determined individual with a small fragment of her state trooper character from the 1996 cult classic "Fargo" lurking around her character here. She has a great deal of innocent intentions about her, but her mission to take this top secret information to the Russian Embassy is her mission and will stop at nothing to achieve her goal. In every role she stars in she just seems naturally fit and comfortable and it organically works out in the end.
In the end "Burn After Reading" is clearly not the greatest Coen Brothers film nor will it make you go into any kind of deep thinking. It's still a funny film, energetic with great levels of sadness which is believable since knowing that the characters we have to endure with in the next 95 minutes are not the most sanely bunch. I'm not complaining that the film was too long. In fact it's quite reasonable. My gripe is that the ending was way too free and ended quite abruptly. There are several questions left unanswered as many issues remain uncovered.