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Burn After Reading Poster

Title: Burn After Reading

Year: 2008

Director: Joel Coen

Writer: Ethan Coen

Cast: George Clooney (Harry Pfarrer), Frances McDormand (Linda Litzke), Brad Pitt (Chad Feldheimer), John Malkovich (Osborne Cox), Tilda Swinton (Katie Cox),

Runtime: 96 min.

Synopsis: When a disc containing memoirs of a former CIA analyst falls into the hands of gym employees, Linda and Chad, they see a chance to make enough money for Linda to have life-changing cosmetic surgery. Predictably, events whirl out of control for the duo, and those in their orbit.

Rating: 6.655/10

A Tangled Web of Fools: The Coen Brothers’ Sharp Satire in Burn After Reading

/10 Posted on July 15, 2025
The Coen Brothers’ *Burn After Reading* (2008) is a masterclass in controlled chaos, a dark comedy that skewers human folly with surgical precision. Directed with their signature blend of cynicism and wit, the film thrives on its intricate screenplay, a labyrinth of misunderstandings that exposes the absurdity of self-importance. The narrative centers on a disc containing supposed CIA secrets, which triggers a cascade of missteps among a cast of delightfully flawed characters. The screenplay’s strength lies in its ability to make every character’s delusion feel both ridiculous and painfully human, from Chad’s (Brad Pitt) naive enthusiasm to Osborne’s (John Malkovich) impotent rage. This is not a plot-driven thriller but a character-driven farce, where the real tension emerges from watching egos collide.

Brad Pitt’s Chad Feldheimer, a dim-witted gym employee, steals the show with a performance that balances caricature and sincerity. His wide-eyed optimism, paired with Frances McDormand’s desperate, vanity-driven Linda Litzke, creates a comedic duo that feels both archetypal and fresh. The ensemble rounded out by George Clooney’s paranoid philanderer and Tilda Swinton’s icy surgeon delivers performances that amplify the Coens’ biting tone. However, the film’s reliance on coincidence occasionally strains credulity, particularly in the third act, where the web of misunderstandings feels overly engineered. This minor flaw, though, is overshadowed by the film’s relentless pacing and sharp dialogue, which never let the audience settle into comfort.

Roger Deakins’ cinematography is understated yet effective, using muted Washington, D.C. locales to ground the absurdity in a deceptively mundane reality. The muted palette contrasts with the characters’ outsized ambitions, a visual reminder of their disconnect from the world they inhabit. Carter Burwell’s score, with its jazzy, off-kilter rhythms, mirrors the narrative’s unpredictable energy, punctuating key moments without overpowering them. The Coens’ choice to set this farce in the world of espionage a genre typically associated with high stakes amplifies the humor, as trivial personal desires unravel what characters believe to be grand conspiracies. Ultimately, *Burn After Reading* succeeds because it doesn’t aspire to profundity; it revels in the pettiness of human nature, leaving viewers both amused and unsettled by the mirror it holds up to our own misjudgments.
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