Expectations are funny things, and it’s really difficult to go into a Coen brother’s movie without “em. The brothers have won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Writing (twice). They are also responsible for classics like “Fargo” and “The Big Lebowski.” I hoped the large shadow that the Coen brothers cast didn’t keep me from completely enjoying “Burn After Reading” because I liked it, but maybe not as much as I should have. I not quite sure I figured out where Ethan and Joel wanted to go with this one, but more imp’mortantly, I have no idea where they ended. Maybe intelligence really is relative.
The movie begins with CIA agent Osborne Cox (John Malkovich) losing his job because the agency tells him that he has a drinking problem. To this, he quickly replies to one of his co-workers “You’re a Mormon! Next to you, everyone’s got a f***ing drinking problem!” With no job, Osborne decides to write a memoir of his life, but his wife Katie (Tilda Swinton) wonders why anyone would care. The action begins when a disc of Osborne’s8212;one full of numbers and codes and more numbers8212;finds its way onto the floor of Hardbodies Gym. One of the gym employees takes the disc to Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand) and Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt) who in turn decide that they can use the intelligence to their advantage. In a way which only the Coens could come up with, Linda and Chad accidentally decide to blackmail Osborne for “a small reward”. Chad probably wants the money for some new hair products, while Linda feels like she needs plastic surgery (which the insurance won’t pay for). Mix in Treasury employee Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney) who doesn’t like dating just one woman (who throughout the movie seems to be building something special in his basement) and you’ve got quite a few funny scenes of wildly misrepresented intentions.
In a movie that’s not really about much at all, somehow the Coen brothers seem to find a way to keep the audience engaged the entire time. One of the ways they do this is by having a great ensemble of clueless characters. The fact that they can have almost no plot and still keep our attention is interesting, but it’s also one of the things the Coen brothers do best.
Maybe I’m as clueless as the characters are. I’m intrigued when a movie tears me between thinking “Wow, they made a lot out of a little,” and “Wow, for such great filmmakers and such a great cast, they didn’t end up with much.” My hunch is that the movie turned out exactly how they wanted it to, and as a result they not only outsmarted me, but they ultimately outsmarted themselves. I wonder how this movie would stand up in our minds without the big shadow of expectation, which is what we’ve come to expect from such good writers/directors. Like I said before, expectations and intelligence are funny things.
