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Burn After Reading Is Coen Casting Genius
George Clooney and Frances McDormad star in Joel and Ethan Coen’s dark spy-comedy (Photo: Focus Features)
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After turning the last Oscars into a celebration of No Country for Old Men’s dark Americana, Joel and Ethan Coen are going lighter. Burn After Reading, in theaters September 12, is about the intersection of CIA culture in Washington D.C. and suburban Virginia—and at these cross streets meet internet dating and the gym. Specifically, two gym employees discover an abandoned CD containing highly sensitive CIA information written by a disgruntled agent. The Virginians proceed to botch a blackmail scheme and get involved with the wrong side of D.C.
The Coen brothers’ particular comic genius is playing with our expectations of famous actors. Think of sober ’80s leading man Jeff Bridges showing up as Jeffrey Lebowski, the Dude. Or serious and brooding George Clooney, known hitherto as Dr. Doug Ross on ER, playing Everett, the dumb-luck Odysseus in O Brother, Where Art Thou? In Burn After Reading, the Coens relish in affronting the audience: Tilda Swinton isn’t poised, she’s uncomfortable and giddy. John Malkovich’s scary meanness, evidenced in movies like Dangerous Liaisons, is turned into a bumbling creepiness. And the Coens have taken on the legend that is Brad Pitt.
What could be more delicious than an unsexy sex symbol? The Coens scripted Burn After Reading with most of the actors already in mind, including Pitt. Here, Brad Pitt isn’t playing sexy or suave or serious. He’s dumb and very, very goofy. No sign of Pitt as brooding and handsome (Seven Years in Tibet), tortured and handsome (Legends of the Fall), sporty and handsome (Troy) or sly and handsome (the Ocean’s trilogy). In Burn, he’s kind of wiry with a bad dye job and odd-fitting clothing. The only evidence of past onscreen personas is the hair, similar to Johnny Suede, and the tempting smile from Thelma & Louise. But unlike previous performances, there is no wit, only dimwit. Pitt’s portrayal of Floyd, a couch-bound stoner, in True Romance, might be the only role comparable. But Floyd was a minor character. Burn After Reading’s Chad Feldheimer is the big time. Let’s hope this American idol is up to the challenge.