Cinematography:
Emmanuel LubezkiComposer:
Carter BurwellCast:
George Clooney, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand, Brad Pitt, Richard Jenkins, J.K. Simmons, David Rasche, Olek Krupa, Jeffrey DeMunn (more)VOD (4)
Plots(1)
Coen brothers crime comedy concerning the whereabouts of a sensitive disc containing the incriminating memoirs of alcoholic CIA agent Osbourne Cox (John Malkovich). Cox's wife, Katie (Tilda Swinton), who is having an affair with married federal marshall, Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney), is making plans to leave her husband, and is advised by her divorce lawyer to copy his personal files onto a disc. The disc finds its way via a circuitous route to the Hardbodies fitness gym, where two unscrupulous employees, Linda (Frances McDormand) and Chad (Brad Pitt) decide to exploit their find for all they can get. Events soon spiral out of everyone's control in a cascading series of surreal and darkly comic encounters and misunderstandings. (Universal Pictures UK)
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Reviews (10)
The Coens again! Every time these famous brothers make a comedy, you can bet you won’t easily forget it. Burn After Reading is a typical example. A crazy script full of crazy characters whose actions are so unbelievable that they become pleasantly funny and parodic, but also full of logical missteps and underdeveloped motives. What is made enjoyable by the superb actors is in turn somewhat marred by an attempt at distinctive and wacky humour, the effects of which are sometimes quite clumsy in the Coens' delivery. But here it surprisingly works quite well, especially the first half, thanks to the wacky Pitt and the irresistibly scene-chewing Malkovich; I was incredibly entertained and I wondered whether they would finally get it right. Well, after Pitt's departure, it went downhill and by the end it was confirmed that the Coens had bitten more than they could chew with the script. That said, I can't criticize much this time because it's really well made, there's no part where the humour stagnates, and sometimes it's nice to see a comedy with a slightly more complex and unravelled story in the style of Guy Ritchie. I’m giving it 3*, but I’ve never felt so much like adding a fourth star.
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The Coen Brothers on cocaine, or rather this is what happens when filmmakers who revel in the bizarre and absurd take their creative visions to the extreme. It's not that I didn't laugh (Malkovich is absolutely amazing and probably never said fuck more than once in a row like he did in this film), but outside of the few good gags and parodying performances, the whole thing is pretty much treading water. Take away the cast and all the funny lines and you're left with... well, nothing. As a one-off, it's quite fine, but you'll enjoy it much more as a festival of maximally infantile roles for the stars than as an honest Coen film. [60%]
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A black-humored critique of the American way of life, relationship problems, and secret service and espionage practices, in the typically sensitive fashion of the Coen brothers; cleverly directed and very sprawling. Although there is no lack of wit and the running time is just right, one can't help feeling that it's all pointless, excessively noisy, exacerbated and a bit out of touch with reality. One can understand the need to read between the lines and it's more of a Saturday afternoon diversion where nothing much is resolved, but I’m just not willing to accept the hackneyed feel of it. A pointless thing with a filmmaking rhetoric says nothing and it’s not fun.
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It’s the typical Coen absurdity - an ordinary man thrown into insanely escalated situations - and it brings to mind the best of what the brothers have done to earn their reputation. It’s got a thoughtful plot, clever twists, excellent actors, great direction, and references so apt that Hitchcock is surely smiling in his grave. It's not good enough for the Oscars like last year, but I like this position much better.
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The potential that this film could have tapped into was really there somewhere. The premise is very original and almost unpredictable, with one star actor shining alongside another, but as I said, this film didn't say much to me. I'm probably going to repeat myself, but whatever. Brad Pitt is pretty convincing as the nutjob. Overall, I'd rate it about 60%.
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