Joel and Ethan Coen have described the film as a story of "dueling idiots".
The film's central irony lies in its setting within the "intelligence community". While the CIA is typically portrayed in cinema as omniscient and authoritative, the Coens present a bureaucracy that has extraordinary power for surveillance but lacks actual knowledge. Burn After Reading
What makes Burn After Reading so damn good? : r/Screenwriting Joel and Ethan Coen have described the film