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Bookmark this pageBurn After Reading (2008)
Director: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Synopsis
The Coens return to a lighter, glossier vein with this comedy drama about a missing CIA memoir. George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Tilda Swinton star.
Movie review
From Time Out London
With their hangdog mugs now nestled against the bosom of mainstream Hollywood, indie-crossover darlings the Coen brothers have concocted another of their Hawkesian screwball quickies in which an ensemble of beautiful A-listers merrily play the fool. Already a hit in the US, ‘Burn After Reading’ is a snappy, confident, lightly satirical and stridently mischievous entertainment that arrives on the back of their sand-blasted lament for times past, ‘No Country for Old Men’.But while the tenor may have changed, the madcap template is very much in place. The rub: a disc containing the memoirs of recently dismissed, mid-level CIA operative Osbourne Cox (John Malkovich at his high-falutin, foul-mouthed best) floats into the hands of two gormless gym employees-turned-recreational grifters, plastic surgery-obsessed singleton Linda (Frances McDormand) and soft liberal airhead Chad (Brad Pitt, right). After an inevitably calamitous attempt at bribery (‘We’ve got your secret shit!’), the pair find themselves cack-handedly doorstepping the Russian embassy in search of a swifter pay-off. Fold into that a parallel story where George Clooney’s rubber-faced philanderer, Harry, tries to juggle semi-serious flings with Linda and Osbourne’s flamed-haired ex, Katie (Tilda Swinton).
Considering the Coens’ past form with intricately plotted farces (‘Raising Arizona’, ‘Fargo’, ‘The Big Lebowski’), this does feel effortless to the point that you might imagine they could have scribbled it on the back of a napkin between breakfast and brunch. Yet, beneath its deadpan façade, nimble direction and robust photography (care of Emmanuel Lubezki) lies a cheerily nihilistic (misanthropic even?) work which paints its characters as preening, self-obsessed, idiot savants who wear stupid clothes, habitually lie, misuse the internet for dating and wouldn’t know a conscience from a Coke bottle. Even at their lowest ebb (2004’s ‘The Ladykillers’) the brothers’ palpable affection for old movies injected some humanity into the overly sardonic proceedings; but here, even the movies are bad, as seen in their snarkily anodyne film-within-a-film, ‘Coming Up Daisy’.
The audience are, in the end, placed in the boots of JK Simmons’s flummoxed CIA chief who, having been nervously informed of the preceding antics, finds it tough to fathom how these people could have been so damn stupid. It’s possibly the Coens’ least romantic film, which makes the cynical tone a tough pill to swallow, but chances are that you’ll be too busy hooting and chuckling idiotically to notice.
Author: David Jenkins
Time Out London Issue 1991, Oct 16 – 22, 2008
User reviews of this film
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- rob said...
- Posted on Oct 29 2008 16:11 great film . great cast . brilliantly acted. all the people who slated it and clearly did not get it at all are idiots.
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- John said...
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Posted on Oct 29 2008 15:03
Sounds to me like many of the people here do not understand the Coens' humor...or their style directing - referring to the comment of Clooney's over-acting.
May sound patronizing, but many people just do not get their films now and never will. - Report as inappropriate
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- raoul said...
- Posted on Oct 28 2008 15:04 pretensious crap. all the critics praising this movie just because of the hype of No Country... are nuts. Clooney overacts in a clownish way (an exaggeration of his role in "brother, where art thou"). Pitt's character is only a bit funny because you're not used seeing Pitt acting like that - but it annoys you very fast. Malkovitch is the only one which is doing what one can call "acting". see this film if you enjoy disney movies or clown street shows.
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- Doug Morton said...
- Posted on Oct 28 2008 14:35 Film was superb, as you'd expect from the Co Bros it's an articulate study of the human condition, it doesn't set the heather on fire like some of their past achievements but the acting is flawless. You may need to have read a book in your lifetime (only one!) to appreciate this film. I would epect those on this forum that are slating it would prefer some Steven Seagal no brains action classic!
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- critique said...
- Posted on Oct 28 2008 13:46 Diverting, unconventional curiosity. Great fun.
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- nicky said...
- Posted on Oct 27 2008 23:40 well what can i say... WHAT A LOAD OF RUBBISH... we went exspecting a good film,considering the cast,they must have got desperate for work or something, the last film i saw as disapointing was vanila sky, years ago, also the aviator, this film made not a lot of sence at all was all over the place, so boring and it ended how it started, nowhere, if your thinking on going to see it, save your money or just throw it down a drain, trust me!!!
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- Anna said...
- Posted on Oct 27 2008 16:41 The plot seemed to wobble all over the place, making the film hard to follow and summarise. It had no real direction or purpose but did entertain me. I wasn't wishing it would end at any point, just wishing that someone would tell me what was going on. I don't recommend this to a casual audience but some might enjoy.
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- Bob said...
- Posted on Oct 27 2008 16:13 People always expect too much and thats why they can be disappointed....I went without any idea...i knew that some reviews were bad but after all it is great entertainment....shame that some chavs sat next to me.
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- Bob said...
- Posted on Oct 27 2008 16:09 Loved it - acting - story. Excellent....A real laugh. Clooney Pitt and Malko are hilarious...go and see it.
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- JJ said...
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Posted on Oct 27 2008 16:07
Well I was really expecting some witty comedy, but what a load of shit.
NO WONDER THE WORLD IS IN A MESS. - Report as inappropriate
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- Dave in Donny said...
- Posted on Oct 27 2008 15:51 Only idiots could like this
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- Alpunk said...
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Posted on Oct 27 2008 14:19
Oh dear, It seems that a lot of people that would never usually watch a Coen Brothers film have been lured to this by the marquee names and their higher profile post-No Country. They'll be pleased - they have successfully returned to the role of anti-establishment outsiders,
Not one of their very best but I thoroughly enjoyed it. - Report as inappropriate
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- tintin said...
- Posted on Oct 26 2008 22:33 I have come to the conclusion that Clooney and Pitt have sunk to a level that will be difficult to climb up from ...this film is just pure rubbish on all levels .I lost interest from the start and never gained it back .Utter tripe !
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- DV said...
- Posted on Oct 26 2008 21:32 Go see it if you are patient...I loved it.
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- simon said...
- Posted on Oct 26 2008 16:36 is this film good or not because i want to go and see it but i have read these and they are a mixture of suggestions... is it a film i should go and see??? please reply x
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Cast & crew
Director: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Cast: Tilda Swinton, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich full cast
Rated: 15
Duration: 96 mins
UK Release: Oct 17 2008
US Release: Sep 12 2008
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