Confederacy of Dunces

Rating: 8/10 (15 September 2008)

Burn After Reading is a smart dark comedy about a cross section of DC area paranoids and functional idiots who seem determined to bungle their way to self destruction. Redeemable qualities are hard to find in any of these self absorbed but engagingly quirky characters who actively deceive partners while unconsciously living an existence of self deception themselves. It can and does make for a lethal combination.
CIA operative Osborne Cox refuses a demotion and quits his post much to the chagrin of his ice cold wife whose having an affair with Harry Pffarer a US Marshall and a sex addict. Cox decides to write his memoirs but has a disk of material lifted by his wife whose about to begin divorce proceedings against him. The disk is then lost at a gym where two brainless, body conscious employees hatch a bribery scheme against Cox. Matters are further complicated when Harry begins an affair with Linda Litsky, one of the extortionists. Before you know it the CIA and the Russians are involved.
This is the sharpest film the talented team Coen has made since The Big Lebowski. By insinuating much and revealing little they slyly keep the audience off balance throughout with a blend of comic detours and sudden violence. Their signature unpredictable style is well in evidence as they refashion stark characters of similar plots and manipulate star power to their advantage by casting Hollywoods two reigning hearthrobs, George Clooney and Brad Pitt to play narcissistic nitwits, which they do with aplomb.
Francis McDormand as the dense Linda, John Malkovich as Cox, Tilda Swinton as his wife and Richard Jenkins as the gym owner are all letter perfect as well. Peripheral characters also register heavily, providing the Coens room for some Swiftian social commentary. A cosmetic surgeon, a divorce lawyer and two high ranking clueless CIA officers who confuse the audience and themselves in an hilarious epilogue say reams about today's society.
Burn After Reading displays the Coens once again at the top of their game with an original and refreshing work that avoids the formulaic boilerplate and works outside the Hollywood box. It's visually tame for the Coen's but edited and paced in a way that demands such restraint, accenting both the suspense and the comedy with subtle movements that hold the same weight and impact of some of their grander flourishes. In doing so they have re-stated their claim to being America's best film makers.