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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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- Patricia said...
- Posted on Oct 23 2008 11:35 Great fun and a wonderful poke at society today. Clooney and McDormand were fab together.
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- Richard Coulthard said...
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Posted on Oct 23 2008 09:33
This is by far one of the worst films I have seen, what a waste of actors talent. We were ready to leave after 20 minutes, I stayed till the end (at £6.20 each I wanted to get my monies worth) - of course we didnt!
So annoying and never got going, avoid at all costs. - Report as inappropriate
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- Loz in th UK said...
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Posted on Oct 23 2008 01:28
Maybe the name of the film refers to what they should have done with the script!!!!
A little bit of a let down as the trailers led me to believe it would be an action packed comedy! :(
Its started slowly and never managed to gain any speed, with arty direction, introduction of irrelevant characters or inclusion of details irrelevant to the progress of the script and completely ignored after their disclosure, this really was a drawn out thrill-less black comedy hyped up to be an action packed comedy thriller.
Every character was shafted by another, one way or other, with nobody coming out on top. Maybe that was the point of the film and in that respect it succeeded in being very plausible, but is that why we go to the movies? To see a plausible mirror of life?
If you want escapism, action, thrilling, or laughter, do not go to see this film! - Report as inappropriate
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- nada said...
- Posted on Oct 22 2008 18:05 great after first 10 minites
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- nada said...
- Posted on Oct 22 2008 18:02 laughed after first 10 miutes terrific entertainment
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- Russell said...
- Posted on Oct 22 2008 17:21 A well crafted satire on the general meaninglessness of life with a great cast and lots of the kinda dialogue you expect from a coen brothers film. George Clooney is really very good... but the ending...it's a bit of a disappointment.
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- Kevin said...
- Posted on Oct 22 2008 13:25 This was very disappointing given the anticipation created by the hype . Kept waiting for a coherent and entertaining theme/storyline to develope but it never arrived - and please do not tell me to either a) Look beyond what is on screen for a deeper meaning or b) Accept it on a simple level of just being a fun film - these are just lame excuses for a bad film.
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- DV said...
- Posted on Oct 22 2008 09:13 Is the film ok for people with a whole brain, please Finn? I'm confused...
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- Finn said...
- Posted on Oct 22 2008 08:19 This film is really good it was a brilliant look at our general culture. The cast was fantastic. Would reccomend to anyone, as long as they have half a brain to see what the film is! Top Class.
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- Richie said...
- Posted on Oct 22 2008 00:19 I laughed... Clooney was great!
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- tbone said...
- Posted on Oct 21 2008 23:53 This must be rated as one of the worst films ever made! What ever made John Malcovich and Brad Pitt agree to take part in this utter crappy film I'll never know. Thinking of watching it? save your money, wait for Sky Movies to show it on a Sunday afternoon.
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- CS said...
- Posted on Oct 21 2008 15:58 Amusing little film. You know what to expect so don't go if you have issues with the Coen Bros or your name is Mark Kermode...
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- Sutton said...
- Posted on Oct 20 2008 21:35 Although the acting was good and there are a few funny moments (...the CIA guy), I came away disappointed, given the quality of those involved. The storyline and script were poor. Worth seeing on the small screen, but I'd save your money for something else...
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- Angry said...
- Posted on Oct 20 2008 17:26 well one thing is for sure ben you showed your real quality in your comment -you are a funny litlle arse mate -i wish this movie was as funny but you deserve to watch it for sure -why dont you do that rather than rant here
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- Angry said...
- Posted on Oct 20 2008 17:26 well one thing is for sure ben you showed your real quality in your comment -you are a funny litlle arse mate -i wish this movie was as funny but you deserve to watch it for sure -why dont you do that rather than rant here
- Report as inappropriate
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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