Coen Brothers: Ranking Their Films From Worst To Best

14. Burn After Reading (2008)

An A-list leading cast including Coen-regular George Clooney and first-timers Brad Pitt and John Malkovich? Yes. Hilarious turns from standard Coen collaborators like Frances McDormand and J.K. Simmons? Yes again. A wave of hype for the film following the much-lauded No Country for Old Men? Yes, yes, yes. Despite all of these working pieces, Burn After Reading is still missing something - there's more too 'good' than the absence of evil. It's a fine film and a fine addition to a sterling canon, and one could go so far as to deem it a spiritual cousin to The Big Lebowski when considering the high levels of oddball off-the-wall character moments. But fine acting from Clooney, Pitt and McDormand still fails to make the viewer care about them or their tired efforts in the same way we care about someone like The Dude.