Burn After Reading is now my favourite Coen Brothers movie since The Big Lebowski. In one sense it serves its purpose in portraying the CIA as a bungling spy agency (much like that Adam Curtis piece on MI5) but at times it is hilarious and the acting is exquisite.
We're all used to John Malkovich banging out a good role, but for my money Brad Pitt's part as a dim-witted Gym trainer is his best since that Gypsy character in Snatch. George Clooney also plays a wonderfully absorbed narcissist type State Department character, veering widely between witty and somewhat shallow at work or getting laid.
I've posted the trailer above but it's a bullshit marketing edit. If you really want to get a feel for the movie, the finest scene is linked here because I can't embed it. Please watch it. It's 3-4 minutes of flawless acting. A CIA Director is being briefed by one of his lieutenants on a bizarre clusterfuck situation involving an officer that was recently demoted (and quit) by the subordinate character in the scene.
It's the end scene but you don't pay too much attention to the details just enjoy the feel of it. It wont blow the movie.
Every gesture and word in this Burn After Reading scene is exquisite. I keep watching it over and again for it's honesty and craft.
Anything to keep it spinning out of control.
