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Movie Review Burn After Reading
Dumb people behaving dumbly
Burn After Reading
3:00 pm Sep 13 - by Andy Herren – buzz Writer
Burn After Reading
Buzz says:
MPAA Rating: RCurrent Showtimes: No showtimes available
The Coen brothers love to have fun, which is precisely what their latest effort, Burn After Reading, is. Throw in some screwball comedy, wonderful dialogue, bouts of extreme violence, spy motifs, and colorful characters and you have the recipe for quite an entertaining, albeit slightly perplexing time at the movies. Joel and Ethan Coen have returned to their comedy roots, echoing elements of Fargo, Raising Arizona, and many other films in their offbeat repertoire. Burn After Reading is not a heavy film, it’s not an important film, and it certainly is not as powerful as No Country for Old Men (the latest, Oscar-winning Coen brothers movie), but it never claims to be. The whole film is essentially about nothing, yet the characters and dialogue and plot add up to an enormously entertaining package that is unlike anything previously released.
Osborne Cox (John Malkovich), a CIA analyst, has just been fired from his job for being an alcoholic. His wife Katie (Tilda Swinton) wants a divorce and is sleeping with Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney). When Katie copies some information from Osborne’s computer to aid her in the divorce proceedings, the disc she stores the information on gets left behind at Hardbodies gym, where it is retrieved by Hardbodies employees Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt) and Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand). Oh, and Linda is also sleeping with Harry. Thinking they have top secret CIA information on their hands (when all they really have are Osborne’s memoirs), Linda and Chad attempt to blackmail Osborne, with one thing leading to another until the whole situation spirals out of control.
There are a lot of stupid people in this movie. Pitt, McDormand, and Clooney (who is actually in the finale of his “idiot trilogy” with the Coens after O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Intolerable Cruelty) are really good at playing dumb. Pitt’s gym trainer is like a puppy: substantial in energy and charisma, but lacking anything upstairs. McDormand’s character is a little more complex, as she is a lonely woman, unhappy with her body and looking for love, while all the while doing the stupidest things at the worst possible times. She is endearing, yet it is hard to root for someone who has no clue what the hell she is doing and whose ultimate motive is to receive money in order to pay for four plastic surgeries because she has “gone as far as this body will take me.” And Clooney, as a womanizing buffoon, has some of the best lines in the movie.
Malkovich and Swinton are the smarter individuals in the film, yet they also make some really idiotic decisions while dealing with their less intelligent co-stars. Malkovich in particular steals his scenes by screaming, “WHAT THE F**K” over and over as people around him act more and more idiotic. The great thing is that he is completely subordinate to the dumb people, and the ways in which he reacts to Pitt and McDormand in particular are absolutely hilarious. Swinton plays her usual ice-cold bitch persona, with the same fervor and panache that have made her both an audience and critical darling. She is so good at being so awful, and her relationship with Clooney is another comedic high point in the film. She also has a verbal smackdown with a toddler that is sure to inspire lots of laughs.
The plot of the movie is so clever in its nothingness, as bad things begin to happen for reasons that nobody even knows. When asked what is going on by CIA officers, the Superior (J.K. Simmons) simply answers that he has no idea. Although the plot is essentially about nothing, everything ties together and previous scenes that did not seem important are actually crucial in the end. The Coens have done a superb job in tying together a story that is puzzling, stupid, and convoluted for all the right reasons. Burn After Reading is a completely unique experience. There are numerous surprises, and the story takes some turns that will not be expected. Rarely are stupid people this entertaining.
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Last post: Oct. 10, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Rachel Storm (Rachel Storm) said on Oct. 10, 2008 at 12:22 pm:
I would also argue that stupid people are almost always very, very funny. :P
Jeff Brandt (Jeff Brandt) said on Sep. 15, 2008 at 1:11 am:
I would actually argue that instead of being about nothing, BURN AFTER READING is about everything. Like SEINFELD. It's about the human condition and the futility of trying to make sense of people. It's about love, lust, loss, desperation, paranoia, humor, self-consciousness, greed, etc. etc. etc. And naturally, it's not as powerful as NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. That movie's hard to beat in the "powerful" category. But I find the film very important.