The 2008 Coen Brothers movie, "Burn After Reading" is only a movie so what's the real-world story 'of Volusia County Chair Jeff Brower and his Plan B crew starring Elizabeth Ann Lavette, a petty criminal who uses an alias, Libby Ann Higbee, masquerading as Brower's volunteer environmental advisor. Another is Mark Barker, whose political blog, Barker's View, relies on vulgar and cheap cliches to provide cover for Brower. Also shown above is County Councilwoman, seeking re-election, and Jake Johansson, retired Navy commander and former Port Orange city manager, running for the at-large seat on the council. He and Girtman have been targets of political attacks by Brower & Co.
Preamble: Sidebar 1
By HENRY FREDERICK / Headline Surfer
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The 2008 Coen Brothers film, "Burn After Reading" is a political dark comedy farce wrapped around a disc containing memoirs of a former CIA analyst (John Malkovich) that falls into the hands of Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand) and Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt), two gym employees who see a chance to make enough money for her to have life-changing cosmetic surgery.
Predictably, events whirl out of control for the duo doofuses and those in their orbit, as so aptly described in Rotten Tomatoes.
But that's not real. It's a movie and a great one at that with an all-star cast.
Here in the real world, and specific to Greater Daytona-Beach-DeLand is a Gong Show version of the Coen brothers' movie classic: It's "Plan B" County Chair Jeff Brower and his cast of characters. There's Libby Ann Higbee, an alias used by Elizabeth Ann Lavette, a petty criminal who serves as his volunteer advisor on environmental issues. Another is Mark Barker, a retired Holly Hill police chief who provides cover for Brower with his vulgar political blog, "Barker's View. " It goes and on as Y'all will see in the opening to Headline Surfer's new investigative reporting project, "Volusia County's Venality: A Decade of Abuse."
For now, please enjoy this sidebar on the Coen Brothers film, "Burn After Reading.
YouTube embedding / Video by Movieclips / Clip 7/10 in "Burn After Reading" - with the classic line "Appearances Can Be Deceptive." Posing as Mr. Black, Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt) meets with ex-CIA analyst Osbourne Cox (John Malkovich) to make a trade.
Here is a summary of "Burn After Reading" as described in Coen brothers fandom:
Facing a demotion at work due to a drinking problem, Osbourne Cox (Malkovich) angrily quits his job as a CIA analyst, and decides to use his new free time to write a memoir. When his wife Katie (Swinton) finds out about his termination, she used it as an opportunity to file for divorce and continue her affair with Harry Pfarrer (Clooney), a deputy U.S. Marshal. Harry is also married to a children's book writer, who is away on a book tour. She copies her husband's financial records and other files, including the draft memoir, off his computer and gives them to her lawyer.
Her lawyer's assistant copies the files onto a CD, which she accidentally leaves on the locker room floor of a local gym, Hardbodies. The disc is discovered by a dim-witted personal trainer, Chad Feldheimer (Pitt) and his co-worker Linda Litzke (McDormand), who mistakenly believe it to contain sensitive government information. They plan to return the disc for a reward, with Linda hoping to use the money to pay for cosmetic surgery. A phone call and meeting with Osbourne cause a furious reaction. Linda decides that the two should try to sell the information on the CD and go to the Russian embassy.
Osbourn's increasingly temperamental behavior prompts his wife to change the locks on their house, and invites Harry to move in with her. A womanizer, Harry is coincidentally also seeing Linda. Linda persuades Chad to sneak into the Coxs' home to get more files from their computer. Harry finds Chad hiding in a closet and fatally shoots him.
Two days later at the CIA headquarters, Plamer Smith (Simmons), Osbourne's former superior, and his director learn that information from Osbourne has been given to the Russian Embassy. They are confused because the material delivered to the Russians is of no importance, and the motive of all parties involved is unknown.
Harry grows increasingly more paranoid, argues with Katie, and leaves the house. On his way out, he spots a man who has been following him for the past several days. Harry tackles the man and learns that he is a private detective hired by his wife to gather evidence to divorce him. Harry is devastated and goes to see an agitated Linda, who confides to Harry that Chad is missing. Harry agrees to help find Chad.
Linda returns to the Russian embassy to find Chad. The Russians dismiss the CD contents and escort a furious Linda off the embassy grounds. She turns to her kindhearted manager at Hardbodies, Ted Treffon (Jenkins), who has unrequited feelings for her. Against his better judgment, Ted agrees to go to the Coxes' home to search Osbourne's computer and look for Chad.
Harry and Linda meet in a park where Harry sees a man looking at Linda and asks if she knows him. After denying knowing the man, Harry becomes suspicious. When Linda tells Harry the address where Chad disappeared, Harry realizes that Chad is the man he shot. Convinced that Linda is a spy and that everyone in the park is surveilling him, Harry panics and flees.
Osbourne becomes unhinged when he finds out that Katie has emptied his bank accounts and decides to break into his house to get his alcohol and personal belongings. He finds Ted in the basement, Osbourne shoots Ted and chases him wielding a hatchet. A CIA agent intervenes by shooting Osbourne, leaving him in a coma.
At the CIA headquarters a few days later, Palmer and his director try to understand what happened. Harry has been detained trying to flee to Venezuela, as that country has no extradition treaty with the US, therefore will not send him back. The director instructs Palmer to let him go to Venezuela. The director and Palmer agree to leave Osbourne comatose and deal with him if he ever wakes. The final loose end is Linda, who promises to keep quiet if they will pay for her plastic surgery, which the director agrees to. They conclude that there appears to be no lesson for the agency to learn from the events. "I guess we learned not to do it again," the director says, despite not knowing exactly what they did, and closes the file.
Multimedia:
YouTube download / Video by smokethapimp / The essence of the movie in the final scene - 'What Did We Learn?'
Headline Surfer infographic / Rotten Tomatoes factoids for the 2008 film, "Burn After Reading."
YouTube embedding / Rotten Tomatoes videos / Movie Trailers for four Coen Brothers movies: No Country For Old Men, Fargo, O rother WEhere Art Though, and The Big Lebowski.
About the Byline Writer: Henry Frederick is a member of the working press and publisher of Headline Surfer, the award-winning 24/7 internet news outlet launched in 2008, that serves greater Daytona Beach, Sanford & Orlando from Lake Mary, Florida via HeadlineSurfer.com. Frederick has amassed close to 150 award-winning bylines in print & online. He earned his Master of Arts in New Media Journalism from Full Sail University in 2019. He was a breaking news reporter (metro cops & courts beat) for the Daytona Beach News-Journal for nearly a decade. And Before that worked the same beat for The Journal-News/Gannett Suburban Newspapers in Rockland/Westchester counties, NY, dating back to 1989. Having witnessed the execution of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Florida's death chamber and covering other high-profile cases such as the George Zimmerman murder trial, Frederick has appeared on national crime documentary shows on Discovery ID, Reelz, and the Oxygen Network series "Snapped" for his analysis. AWJ: