In the landscape of modern cinema, few films manage to blend absurdist comedy with A-list talent as brilliantly as the Coen brothers' 2008 masterpiece, Burn After Reading. This playful spy thriller pastiche continues to captivate audiences, particularly in the United Kingdom, where its dark humour and star-studded cast have secured its status as a cult classic.
The Plot of Pure Chaos
The film opens with deceptive seriousness, zooming from space to the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, accompanied by dramatic percussion. Yet this gravitas quickly unravels into glorious farce. Washington DC gym employees Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand) and Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt) stumble upon what they believe is highly classified intelligence – actually the raw memoirs of former CIA analyst Osborne Cox (John Malkovich).
Their attempted blackmail scheme intersects with multiple affairs, including Linda's relationship with paranoid US marshal Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney), who's simultaneously involved with Osborne's wife Katie (Tilda Swinton). The Coen brothers expertly weave these threads into what ultimately becomes a wild goose chase where characters learn nothing and achieve even less.
A Cast of Magnificent Fools
What makes Burn After Reading particularly remarkable is how it assembles an Oscar-winning ensemble to play complete numbskulls. Coming just months after the Coens won Academy Awards for No Country for Old Men, the film features McDormand, Pitt, Clooney, Malkovich and Swinton all delivering committed performances as variously deluded, self-absorbed and frankly stupid characters.
The brothers subject their creations to merciless treatment, from mocking Osborne's Ivy League pretentiousness (his pronunciation of "memoir" as "mim-wah") to Harry's conspiracy paranoia. Most shocking is the sudden, absurd death of a major character that manages to be both horrifying and hilariously unexpected.
The Art of Meaningless Brilliance
Burn After Reading's greatest achievement lies in its rejection of conventional narrative significance. Despite featuring master cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki and regular Coen composer Carter Burwell, who treat even a homemade sex machine scene with visual and aural poetry, the film embraces triviality as an art form.
While some have interpreted the Washington DC setting as commentary on American political incompetence – particularly relevant during both the Bush and Trump eras – the Coens have insisted this wasn't their intention. According to Ethan Coen, the film simply explores everyone's "inner knucklehead," making it a spectacular exhibition of pure buffoonery.
In one telling scene, Harry and Linda watch a mindless romantic comedy, with the Coens simultaneously satirizing mainstream entertainment while creating their own version of disposable cinema. Yet this very disposability becomes the film's strength, offering pure, uncomplicated amusement during times that feel overwhelmingly significant.
The perfect conclusion comes from JK Simmons as a blunt CIA superior, who essentially dismisses any deeper meaning to the entire escapade. "What did we learn?" he exasperatedly asks, before the camera pulls back to space, suggesting the Coen brothers have been laughing at their characters' stupidity all along.
Available on Amazon Prime in the US and for digital rental in the UK and Australia, Burn After Reading remains a comic masterpiece that celebrates meaninglessness in an era obsessed with significance.
