"Burn After Reading," the latest offering in the eclectic filmography of Joel and Ethan Coen, is not to be taken seriously, and it's certainly not to be compared to their starkly violent Academy Award-winner from last year, "No Country for Old Men."

Having said that, it is by no means a letdown. With its rat-a-tat dialogue and delusional characters, "Burn After Reading" falls more like the brothers' cult-favorite comedies such as "Raising Arizona" and "The Big Lebowski."

This time, the filmmakers take their eye for regional detail to Washington for what looks like an espionage thriller, except that the spying uncovers no significant information, everybody is clueless and no one is ever truly in danger. The writing-directing brothers seem to have a genuine affection and sympathy for the idiots they've concocted. Meanwhile, the A-list actors are clearly having a blast.

John Malkovich, as a fired CIA analyst whose memoir falls into the wrong hands, is a hilarious marvel of precise, percolating rage. The Coens' old pal George Clooney is almost as much of a buffoon here as he was in "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"

But Brad Pitt steals every scene in which he appears -- and nearly walks away with the whole movie -- as a somewhat childlike fitness trainer whose bungled schemes get him in way over his head. Pitt brings an innocence to the role that makes him irresistible rather than obnoxious.

Drink, write, drink

The plot, aimed solely at setting up the comic antics, tumbles out like this:

Osborne Cox (Malkovich), a pompous prig, is forced from his job at the Central Intelligence Agency, though as his boss repeatedly tries to assure him, "This doesn't have to be unpleasant," a typical Coen catchphrase.

So Osborne storms home to Georgetown to drink and begin his memoir and drink some more. His wife Katie (Tilda Swinton), was disgusted with him before he got the ax, as evidenced by her affair with Harry (Clooney), a married federal marshal who is proud to report that he's never had to fire his weapon in 20 years of service. You can see from here how this will end up.

Oops!

For reasons that eventually will become clear, the disk containing Osborne's first draft lands in the laps of a couple of bumbling employees at the suburban Hardbodies Fitness Center: Chad and the high-strung and highly insecure Linda (Frances McDormand), who hatch a plan to blackmail Osborne over the classified secrets they think they've uncovered.

Linda wants the money for the various plastic surgeries she insists will make her happy and complete, and will allow her to stop trolling for dates on the Internet. (Richard Jenkins co-stars as the gym's manager, who is secretly in love with Linda. Just the idea of the mild-mannered Jenkins managing a gym is amusing in itself.)

And Chad wants the money for ..... who knows? All he does is work out.

The Coens let the pacing sag from time to time in the movie's middle, even as the plot thickens and the schemes grow more complex -- at least as far as the characters are concerned. They're all so busy trying to be someone they're not, to be smart, sophisticated, somehow better, that their connection with reality is tenuous at best.

JK Simmons -- who has only a couple of scenes as a CIA official, but they're memorable -- puts it best when he says dryly to Osborne's boss: "Report back to me when ..... I don't know. When it makes sense."

Sure thing. Good luck with all that.

By Christy Lemire / Associated Press

Burn After Reading

Rating: 3 stars (out of four)

Cast: John Malkovich, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton.

Rated: R; pervasive language, some sexual content and violence.

Running time: 96 minutes.