Burn After Reading

• Condition: New
• Format: DVD
• AC-3; Color; Dolby; Dubbed; DVD; Subtitled; Widescreen; NTSC

The private memoirs of a disgraced CIA agent (John Malkovich) fall into the hands of a pair of dim-witted gym workers (Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt) who mistake them for super-secret documents. Now, the stage is set for an ill-conceived blackmail plot that causes hilarious trouble for everyone involved, including Malkovich's wife (Tilda Swinton) and her lover (George Clooney), who's also pursuing McDormand. Richard Jenkins, J.K. Simmons, David Rasche co-star in the Coen Brothers' comedic thriller. 96 min. Widescreen (Enhanced); Soundtracks: English Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1; Subtitles: English (SDH), French, Spanish; featurettes.After the dark brilliance of No Country for Old Men, Burn After Reading may seem like a trifle, but few filmmakers elevate th! e trivial to art quite like Joel and Ethan Coen. Inspired by Stansfield Turner's Burn Before Reading, the comically convoluted plot clicks into gear when the CIA gives analyst Osborne Cox (John Malkovich) the boot. Little does Cox know his wife, Katie (Tilda Swinton, riffing on her Michael Clayton character), is seeing married federal marshal Harry (George Clooney, Swinton's Clayton co-star, playing off his Syriana role). To get back at the Agency, Cox works on his memoirs. Through a twist of fate, fitness club workers Linda (Frances McDormand) and Chad (Brad Pitt in a pompadour that recalls Johnny Suede) find the disc and try to wrangle a "Samaratin tax" out of the surly alcoholic. An avid Internet dater, Linda plans to use the money for plastic surgery, oblivious that her manager, Ted (The Visitor's Richard Jenkins), likes her just the way she is. Though it sounds like a Beltway remake of The Big Lebowski, the Coen entry it mos! t closely resembles, this time the brothers concentrate their ! energies on the myriad insecurities endemic to the mid-life crisis--with the exception of Chad, who's too dense to share such concerns, leading to the funniest performance of Pitt's career. If Lebowski represented the Coen's unique approach to film noir, Burn sees them putting their irresistibly absurdist stamp on paranoid thrillers from Enemy of the State to The Bourne Identity. --Kathleen C. Fennessy


Stills from Burn After Reading (Click for larger image)