Sidewalks On The Corner

Starring John Malkovich, George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt, BURN AFTER READING is a comedy film written, produced and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen.

Follow up:

BURN AFTER READING
Focus Features
MPAA Rating: R for pervasive language, some sexual content and violence.
Running Time: 91 minutes
URL: www.focusfeatures.com

Cast: George Clooney, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, Richard Jenkins, and Brad Pitt

STUDIO SYNOPSIS:
BURN AFTER READING, a comedy thriller from Joel Coen and Ethan Coen ("No Country for Old Men," "Fargo," "The Big Lebowski"), is world-premiering as the opening-night film of the 2008 Venice International Film Festival.

At the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency in Arlington, Va., analyst Osborne Cox (John Malkovich) arrives for a top-secret meeting. Unfortunately for Cox, the secret is soon out: he is being ousted. Cox does not take the news particularly well and returns to his Georgetown home to work on his memoirs and his drinking, not necessarily in that order. His wife Katie (Tilda Swinton) is dismayed, though not particularly surprised; she is already well into an illicit affair with Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney), a married federal marshal, and sets about making plans to leave Cox for Harry.

Elsewhere in the Washington, D.C. suburbs, and seemingly worlds apart, Hardbodies Fitness Centers employee Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand) can barely concentrate on her work. She is consumed with her life plan for extensive cosmetic surgery, and confides her mission to can-do colleague Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt). Linda is all but oblivious to the fact that the gym’s manager Ted Treffon (Richard Jenkins) pines for her even as she arranges dates via the Internet with other men.

When a computer disc containing material for the CIA analyst’s memoirs accidentally falls into the hands of Linda and Chad, the duo are intent on exploiting their find. As Ted frets, “No good can come of this,” events spiral out of everyone’s and anyone’s control, in a cascading series of darkly hilarious encounters.

A Focus Features presentation in association with StudioCanal and Relativity Media of a Working Title production.

JEANNE's TAKE:
Well, Joel and Ethan have done it again -- provided a wickedly funny, acid-etched take on a corner of their world. This time it's those murky spies who help to screw up our foreign policy. The Coen brothers have given yet another reason not to trust those guys.

You remember those guys, the ones who jump out of black limousines wearing really dark sunglasses and who rough up FBI agents Scully and Mulder in the "X-files" from time to time? Well, "Burn After Reading" lets us see how the CIA spooks really live when they're not turning the world upside down. And yeah, we should be worried about those guys.

John Malkovich starts out his day like any other -- drinking and dressed in black. Then he finds out his job at the Agency is being assigned to someone he doesn't even like. His boss gives him a slightly lower security clearance and a smaller office, and that doesn't suit at all. John slams out of his boss' office, with a general "f*ck you" for everybody.

Wife Tilda Swinton is ticked off because Malkovich forgot the cheese plate for dinner that night -- they've having guests. Malkovich doesn't even suspect that his wife is sleeping with fellow spy George Clooney, who is one of the guests that evening.

George Clooney's wife writes children's books and travels frequently. She has no idea what Clooney is building in their basement, or that he uses a dating service a lot. He just wants someone to understand him.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the nation's capital, Brad Pitt, Richard Jenkins and Frances McDormand tough it out at Hardbodies Fitness. Frances wants to look young forever, so she can continue to meet the right men at a dating service -- guess which one. Richard is hopelessly in love with her, but does she notice or care? Brad has his upper body pumping away blissfully while hooked up to the ever present MP3 player.

Then they discover the CD left at the gym. What's on it? PC or MAC? Whose is it? What does it all mean? Who should Brad and Frances offer it to? Why is the CIA pissed? And what the hell is Malkovich doing with his wife's jewelry?

Coen Brothers' territory for sure. Joel and Ethan are four-time Academy Award winners for their writing, directing and producing of films, which they have been doing for 20 years. Their work ranges from screwball comedies like "Raising Arizona" to film noir like "No Country for Old Men." My personal favorites are "Raising Arizona" and "Fargo."

"Burn After Reading" is a bit scary, very funny, bittersweet and entertaining for 90 minutes. And worth at least one large box of popcorn (with butter).