The personal and political collide with absurd, even dark, results for the Washington, D.C., denizens of “Burn After Reading.”
John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Frances McDormand deliver the promise of boldfaced casting. They play a CIA analyst, his wife, the U.S Marshal diddling said mate, and two Beltway gym employees bound by an extramarital affair and a wayward computer disc that isn’t what it seems.
Joel and Ethan Coen’s follow-up to “No Country for Old Men” is that Oscar winner’s tonal opposite.
“No Country” had needed moments of pained humor in the midst of a brooding, relentless violence. This nearly madcap venture punctuates its daft and deftly paced comedy with instances of volatile surprise.
As the action grows more byzantine, a CIA honcho played by JK Simmons provides the voice of reason at a remove. “Report back to me when it makes sense,” he says.
Eventually, the underling can only report back, sense be damned.
Things are set in motion when CIA analyst Osborne “Ozzie” Cox is called into a meeting and unceremoniously sacked. Instead of accepting the humiliation of a security downgrade, he up and quits.
John Malkovich is frightfully good as a guy swinging between determined fury and enervating hurt. One minute he’s plotting a memoir as payback, the next, he’s wandering his house in pajamas dictating sorry sentences into a recorder.
The plot quickens when Hardbodies Fitness employees Chad (Pitt) and Linda (McDormand) try to turn the discovery of a computer disc with what appears to be CIA dirt on it to their advantage.
Meanwhile … because this tale has a series of meanwhiles coupled with cases of misjudged identities, Ozzie’s wife, Katie (Swinton), is having an an affair with Harry Pfarrer, a U.S. marshal.
Although Clooney’s character is proud he’s never shot his gun, the serial philanderer is constantly discharging his weapon. By the way, Harry’s wife is a children’s book author.
Clooney’s face is covered by the same pelt that gave him room to maneuver his role as a CIA operative in the similarly twisty but grave “Syriana.”
Step back from the confident zip of “Burn After Reading” and you’ll find much of the cast has imported traits from prior roles: Pitt wears the slightly modified pompadour of Johnny Suede. Swinton brings the leftover frost of her award-winning villain in “Michael Clayton.”
This time, she beds Michael’s portrayer but remains nearly as adversarial.
These echoes may not have a load of meaning but they add another layer of knowing jest to the madness.
Pitt and McDormand provide the foolish heart of the film. Innocents — or as close to such as the Coens allow — they goofily wade into murky waters.
Chad treats the disc (Ozzie’s notes for his memoir) like a lost dog. Surely there’s a reward for its return.
When his “good Samaritan” notions come to naught, he’s stunned.
And it’s hard not to feel for him as he faces Ozzie. Some worlds aren’t meant to come into contact.
Linda is more opportunistic. Such is the desperation of a woman angling for a full-body makeover.
Fine comedy requires discipline. And an early sign of the Coens’ restraint comes when Linda visits a plastic surgeon.
There’s something quietly humane in how he deals with Linda’s do-over yearnings.
Strictly speaking, “Burn After Reading” isn’t a spy flick. It’s more a romp about the power of the lore on the rest of us. Watching Hardbodies manager Ted (Richard Jenkins) slowly back away as Chad gets excited about what he finds on the disc is quietly hilarious.
“I’m not comfortable with this,” he says from outside the doorway. He’s spooked by mere proximity to classified info.
The ensemble is at once loose and pitch perfect. Hardly a one of them plays a wholly likable person, yet each reveals the despearate or stupid humanity of their characters.
Pitt is a marvel. When he’s not sucking on a plastic water bottle “keeping hydrated,” he’s chewing his gum in a way that suggest an anxious bovine working cud. It looks like thinking but isn’t. Best of all, he breaks into little dances to the music playing on his headset.
Malkovich’s precise diction makes his laugh lines that much funnier — and hints at danger.
Both are abundant here.
Film critic Lisa Kennedy: 303-954-1567 or lkennedy@denverpost.com. Also on blogs.denverpostcom/madmoviegoer
“Burn After Reading”
R for pervasive language, some sexual content and violence. 1 hour, 35 minutes. Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen; photography by Emmanuel Lubezki; starring George Clooney, Frances McDormand, Brad Pitt, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, Richard Jenkins, JK Simmons. Opens today at area theaters.
