Review: "Burn After Reading"

Seen on: September 12, 2008

The players: Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, Writers: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, Cast: George Clooney, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, Brad Pitt, Richard Jenkins

Extra thought: I'd say the style of "Burn After Reading" comes close to that of "The Ladykillers" and "Intolerable Cruelty."

The plot: Two gym employees try to get rich after accidentally stumbling across the classified files of a CIA analyst.

Our quick thoughts: After taking home four Oscars and countless other wins around the world with last year’s spectacular “No Country For Old Men,” Joel and Ethan Coen now return with something a little lighter and a lot sillier. “Burn After Reading” is definitely not their best comedy yet, but the film’s bizarre plot and eccentric characters definitely make for a funny ride.

Where do I even begin with the summary of this utterly chaotic story line? Well, it all starts with CIA analyst Osborne Cox (John Malkovich), who decides to write a memoir and makes the irreversible mistake of copying his documents and other highly classified material onto a CD.

Somehow, the disc accidentally ends up in the women’s locker room at a local gym, where employees Chad (Brad Pitt) and Linda (Frances McDormand) quickly figure out the importance of its content and decide to blackmail Cox for a lot of money. If he refuses to cooperate, they’ll just take the classified information to the Russians.

Still with me? Meanwhile, Cox’s wife Katie (Tilda Swinton) has a hot affair with Harry (George Clooney), who himself uses an online dating service to hook up with women and spends the rest of his time building a mysterious project in his basement. His wife, a famous author, is clueless of course.

Last but not least, Linda uses the same online dating service to find a nice, charming man to go out with, and as fate would have it, she ends up running into Harry. This is bad news for anxious gym teacher Ted (Richard Jenkins), who has a big crush on Linda and would pretty much do anything for her.  

Now, if you got lost somewhere in the preceding paragraphs, don’t worry. While it’s tough to briefly describe what the heck is really going on in “Burn After Reading” it will all make a lot more sense once you actually see the movie. But that doesn’t make the story less odd. After all, this is a Coen brothers comedy.

I did not laugh as much as I thought I would, but I still found myself enjoying the silliness that unfolded on the screen to the fullest extent. As long as it’s done right, I personally have no problem appreciating a strange comedy in which a bunch of idiots spend the entire running time making idiotic decisions and engaging in idiotic conversations.  And in my opinion, the Coens hit all the right notes.

Of course, this is definitely not a film with a lot of depth or a strong message hidden somewhere. Most of the chaos going down here is just plain ridiculous. What it is really is a quick study of incredibly ignorant fools who run around making stupid decisions that they know will thrust them into a whole load of trouble. The funny thing is they don’t think at all about what they are doing.

 

The decisions alone of the character are not the only weird thing about this film. Most the dialogue here is just as ridiculous, and while some jokes don’t really fly, others will definitely have you laughing out loud once in a while. Or maybe you’re just laughing at the stupidity of the people doing their thing on the big screen? In either way, and despite some longer passages, the Coens succeed in putting on a funny show.

Sure, the plot of the film may be a little shallow and quite pointless, but it’s the tremendous cast that turns this into quite a captivating experience. While George Clooney, Frances McDormand and John Malkovich deliver excellent performances, it’s Brad Pitt who just steals the whole show every time he appears in front of the camera. I really haven’t seen him tackle a project with so much enthusiasm and ease in quite some time.

Freaky quote: “I thought you might be worried about the security of your shit." – Brad Pitt

The final word: Don’t expect to learn a lesson coming out of “Burn After Reading.” If you really insist on finding a message somewhere in the story, well here it is: if you do an utterly stupid thing that only causes you misery, make sure not to ever do it again. I know it’s not exactly deep, but it’s the humorous moral of a sharp and hysterical little film with a bunch of A-list actors having a lot of fun.         

Article by Franck Tabouring