Burn After Reading (film): Fantastic and not at all what I was expecting

I have to say that this is actually a really refreshing and unusual kind of film. When you see the poster or just hear a description you are probably going to go into this film with the wrong idea and perhaps that is a good thing. In fact, if you would prefer to have a nice surprise of a movie then go and read the description and then just go into the film blind. That's what I did and it actually took me a little while to find out that this was not the kind of movie that I was expecting at all based on the plot summary as well as the cast.

So I am not going to put any spoilers until after this picture of the movie poster.

Well i suppose I should have had some idea seeing as how it was a Coen brothers movie that it wasn't going to be a straight espionage / mystery/ thriller, but those guys are pretty versatile so even that isn't a dead giveaway. Also, everyone in this cast other than perhaps Malkovich excels at all types of cinema so even THAT isn't a dead giveaway as to what kind of film this is going to be.

I don't remember exactly what the Plex blurb was that I read but I went into this thinking that it was going to be a film about CIA stuff... the usual protecting the nation at all costs and having people murdered and what not... but that was not what I was treated to.

What i ended up getting is a bit of what I described above mixed in with love stories, stories of the everyday man, the inside life of a CIA insider, and a lot of cheating on people's significant others in a dark comedy sort of film. It has a little bit of everything actually and that is what kept me guessing the entire way through and part of why I thought it was such a good film.

There is so much going on with the various intertwined characters that sort of come together by the time we get to the end and I suppose that was always going to happen but it doesn't really happen in the way that you think it is going to.

I guess if there was a main character in this film it would be John Malkovich in his role of Ozzy Cox, who is a CIA manager of sorts that at the very start of the film is being demoted for "reasons" and he is so upset by all of this that instead of accepting the demotion in the CIA he simply quits to go and write his memoirs. In the meantime his wife is not very happy about this and is also cheating on him with at least one person.

To give you an idea of how star-studded this film is, his wife is played by Tilda Swinton and she is barely in any of the movie at all. J.K. Simmons is also in the cast but barely in the film at all and doesn't even have a name in the credits. He is known just as "CIA Superior".

The "memoirs" which are actually just very vague and incomplete thoughts by Ozzy on a disk end up getting in the hands of some personal trainers played by Brad Pitt and Frances McDormand, who themselves are two legendary actors as well. See where I am going with this?

With this sort of a lineup it really doesn't matter what the film is about but unless someone gave you some prior knowledge you aren't going to be able to guess what is coming next and I strongly encourage you to see this film because it is good and likely will "throw you for a loop" every now and then and it isn't going to end the way you think either.

Should I watch it?

I think I have been clear enough up to this point about how I think you should see this one. I've been in a real lull as far as films are concerned lately and haven't even been finishing most of what I start these days because they are NOT good. This has been the first exception in several films and I can't believe that this movie has been out since 2008 and I am just now coming across it. It gets the thumbs up from me for sure.