2008 / Ethan & Joel Coen > Burn After Reading is a bit of a mystery: On one hand, the plot is put together in a way that’s almost too perfect, too clean to be the work of two brothers who just won an Oscar for directing. Things are forced and coincidental to the point where the audience loses the need to think. I know that’s generally considered a negative, but let’s face it: The boys just finished No Country for Old Men and wanted to do something fun and simple. Subsequently, this is an enjoyable, relatively superficial work with some basic commentary on our everyday lives. The best part, though, has to be how great the individual performances were (especially the hilarious Brad Pitt). The Coens have quite a few gifts, and one of them just may be getting the finest out of their actors.