The Genius of the Coen Bros. -- at a lesser effort.

Rating: 7/10 (28 February 2009)

Burn After Reading, simply said, is a story of what happens when paranoia is combined with depression, stress, and/or loneliness.
It tells of what happens when something as simple as finding a memoir of a CIA agent can be deadly when handled extremely by the CIA.
It tells a story of two very idiotic gym employees who found the memoir and want to use it to their own personal advantages (Linda, who wants her cosmetic surgery paid and Chad, who just want some rewards for finding the CIA's sh*t -- Chad: "Osbourne Cox? I thought you might be worried... about the security... of your sh*t.") Now, this movie is made out of random, meaningless plot and intersected with some more random, meaningless sub-plots.
But, somehow, the meaningless-ness of this movie is what made it genius, I'd say! It explores how normal people would react when this kind of things happened to them (I won't tell you what, you have to see it for yourself). And it is filled with dark humour.
But what stands out the most is the acting. It is a cast of big names acting stupid. Which is...good, actually...in a way. It's very confusing, to say the least. You just have to watch it.
And the star of this movie is not Clooney, but surprisingly, Pitt. He just shines throughout each scene he's in. And, not to mention, his character is very funny.
Burn After Reading -- another genius movie by the Coen Bros. -- but at a lesser effort -- recommended!