ShareThisNo one could blame the Coen brothers for wanting to lighten up after making "No Country for Old Men." But "Burn After Reading," a farce about dimwitted, self-absorbed people linked by adultery and ersatz political intrigue, merely flickers with humor before being extinguished by frenetic and pointless plotting.Though not a failure on the order of "The Ladykillers" or "The Hudsucker Proxy," "Burn After Reading" shows brothers Joel Coen and Ethan Coen (who directed, co-wrote, produced and edited the film) running on fumes. They hired top-notch actors but gave them a bargain-basement script.The plot that eventually emerges has Washington, D.C., gym employees Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand) and Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt) trying to squeeze cash out of an ex-CIA analyst, Osborne Cox (John Malkovich), in exchange for a computer disc that has fallen into their possession. Linda, who's obsessed with finding money to pay for cosmetic surgery, and Chad, a sweet idiot who apparently lives to help Linda, think the disc has crucial spy secrets. In fact, it contains material that alcoholic Ozzie is using to write his memoirs, which is his way of getting revenge on the CIA for firing him.No one cares what Ozzie has to say, especially his wife, Katie (Tilda Swinton), who's thinking of divorcing him to make way for a more binding relationship with her lover, Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney), a U.S. marshal married to children's-book author Sandy (Elizabeth Marvel). Ozzie's old bosses (David Rasche, J.K. Simmons) aren't worried about his writing, but they are somewhat interested in the activity surrounding him, which includes Russian operatives and murder.Ted (Richard Jenkins), Linda and Chad's boss, has the sense to worry about them. He has a crush on Linda, but she's too busy looking for dates on the Internet to notice."Burn After Reading" offers amusing moments, many of them having to do with Pitt's blond-crested trainer. Director of photography Emmanuel Lubezki gives D.C. (shot passably in and around New York) a friendly, small-town feel. But though the actors throw themselves into their roles, the only character who's remotely likable is Jenkins' Ted.In general, the women are cold and the men stupid. Linda isn't as icy as Katie or Sandy, but she's so fixated on getting her surgeries that she puts herself ahead of all else. Chad has the IQ of an exercise mat, and Ozzie, despite his pretentiousness and Princeton degree, is clueless. Harry seems friendly, warm and goofy, but his glib exterior masks a reprehensible attitude toward women.By the end, it isn't clear if the Coens mean to poke fun at the fitness culture or the intelligence community -- or to imply that each is full of meatheads. At a stretch, it could be said the film criticizes the CIA for a lack of ethics and contempt for law. Basically, though, "Burn After Reading" is just lowbrow snarkiness that expires as soon as the screen goes black.Rated R for pervasive language, some sexual content and violence.Three stars (out of five).(Contact Knoxville News Sentinel film critic Betsy Pickle at pickle(at)knews.com.)
Coens' 'Burn After Reading' is just lowbrow snarkiness
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