8 Movies That Didn't Know Who The Bad Guy Was

6. Burn After Reading

It's rare that we root for an alcoholic at the movies (unless it's encouragement to get sober), and that might explain why audiences had such trouble getting behind John Malkovich's character in the Coen Brothers' absurdly excellent Burn After Reading. Or it could be the overwhelming amount of stupidity covering up the heart of the story.

Anyway, a brief description: Malkovich's character, Osbourne Cox, is a former CIA analyst (and current friend of alcohol) who loses a disc containing a portion of his memoirs which, in turn, contains what some might consider to be important information about his prior work experience. This sets into motion a chain of blackmailing and various smoking guns, all culminating in the misery of Mr. Osbourne Cox.

While Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Frances McDormand, and Richard Jenkins (who all want something different out of this missing disc situation) are all portrayed as bumbling idiots with varying degrees of fecklessness, the guy at the center of it all is an innocent dude portrayed as a nasty villain.

Which couldn't be further from the truth. How would you react if a bunch of random people tried, literally out of nowhere, to blackmail you. They're calling you up late at night making threats, intruding in your home, and generally trying to make your life a living hell. And that information they have on you? It's not anything. Like, literally nothing that anybody wants. It's just a shoddy memoir.

And this leaking of non-information leads to your constant paranoia, a divorce from your wife, and ultimately, a friggin' coma. But...John Malkovich plays the bad guy. Apparently.