Entertainment

Burn After Reading Movie Preview

The Coen Brothers Return to Comedy

Brad Pitt in 'Burn After Reading'

The Coen Brothers love to torture George Clooney. Why? Only the Coens know for sure, but it's a guarantee that if Clooney's a part of one of their films, he'll be playing an idiot. Ethan Coen even jokingly confirmed that's the only type of character they look to Clooney to portray in their movies. "The day we wrapped," said Ethan Coen when the subject came up at the No Country for Old Men LA press junket. "We called wrap on George's last shot and he said, 'All right, that's it. I've played my last idiot.' So we told him it was sad that he wouldn't be working with us anymore."

In fact Clooney even has a nickname for his Coen Brothers movies. Clooney's dubbed them a 'trilogy of idiots' which aptly describes his participation in O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Intolerable Cruelty and now Burn After Reading. According to Joel Coen, Clooney loves to play idiots for them, but at least in Burn After Reading he meets his match in idiocracy. Clooney's buddy Brad Pitt joins him in what Joel Coen has described as a "dueling idiots movie."

The fact the Coens wrote the lead roles with Clooney, Pitt, and Frances McDormand (aka Mrs Joel Coen) in mind left Clooney and Pitt to ponder just what the filmmakers really think of them. "Looking at the parts we are playing, I'm very concerned about what you think of us," said Clooney while taking part in a press conference in support of the film's screening at the Venice Film Festival.

Pitt added, "Like George, I'm not sure if I should be flattered or insulted. I'm still a bit unsure."

The Story
Pitt and McDormand are gym employees who discover a CD-ROM containing the tell-all memoir of a fired CIA analyst (played by John Malkovich). Comedy ensues when they try to sell the disc which contains classified CIA secrets. Clooney plays a federal marshal having an affair with Malkovich's wife.

Burn After Reading hopes to spark audience interest on September 12, 2008.