Burn After Reading (2008)
October 2, 2008 by Phil Naglee
The dark humor of the Coen Brothers is back. After finding moderate success with Blood Simple and Raising Arizona, then mainstream success with Fargo and O’ Brother Where Art Thou?, the Coen Brothers know how to make good movies. They have had a miss-step here and there along the way, i.e. The LadyKillers and The Man Who Wasn’t There, but continue to impress after last year’s excellent No County For Old Men with their latest, Burn After Reading.
This is a very interesting film. Like Fargo, it is hard to classify this one. It’s not really a drama, not really a dark comedy all the way through. I’d say it’s a mixture of both, and very entertaining to watch.
This film follows the story of 6 main different characters, all involved and intertwined within each others life, however none really knowing exactly how. Since this story is so convoluted, a brief synopsis will suffice to prevent any major spoilers: A disk containing the memoirs of a CIA agent(John Malkovich) ends up in the hands of two unscrupulous gym employees(Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt) who attempt to sell it.
The Coen’s do a nice job of casting for the majority of their movies. This particular movie is also cast very well, but there are some definite highlights. Frances McDormand is excellent as usual, John Malcovich is quite good as well, but Brad Pitt completely steals the show. It is almost like another actor is playing this character he is so convincing. Definitely my favorite thing about this movie. Clooney is just ok, he peaks and falls with his character in the movie.
What I didn’t like about this movie is that the film drastically changes in the middle of it. It literally becomes an entirely different film. If it is Raising Arizona in the first half, it is Fargo in the second. This film is classic Coen’s as far as dark gruesome humor, and you find yourself laughing and feeling guilty about it directly afterward.
The film’s tagline, “Intelligence is Relative” is very true and fits this movie on all types of levels.
Reel Review: 3.5 out of 5 Reels: Not as good as Fargo as a dark comedy, but better than The LadyKillers.
Brad Pitt was definitely the highlight of this movie for me. He was hilarious in it!