Burn After Reading

In the Coen tradition, we get our share of blood and guts in the story of Semper Fidelis.

A level three analyst in the CIA, Osbourne Cox (John Malkovich) is banished to a lesser position, presumably due to excessive imbibing. As with the movie "Hopscotch" with Walter Matthau, Osbourne decides to write his memoirs. Now, what do you suppose would happen if the memoir mysteriously gets in the possession of some aging female that is determined to get comedic surgery and is desperate for money and love. This leads to a chain reaction of fidelity and infidelity.

When the day is done does the CIA know what they started and learn from whatever it is they did?

The film has a good collection of popular actors. Tilda Swinton as Katie Cox gets to replay her role as the Snow Queen.

The Coen Brothers seem to have a catalog of movies that are both beloved and highly underrated. And no better example of the latter than Burn After Reading.

Despite the solid 7.0 Rating and the 63 on Metascore, which are all positive, especially for a mainstream US movie. I think this movie is highly underrated by both film critics and audiences. This film works under a very particular type of weird, deadpan comedy that seems to be unloved by a majority of general audiences. But I personally consider this movie to be not only one of my all-time favorites but a tremendously hilarious film filled with wonderful writing and performances.

While Brad Pitt is obviously the standout in this film, I think this film is helped a lot by the casting of the supporting actors. Richard Jenkins is my favorite of the supporting actors, and he again shows how underrated of an actor he is. He steals the show in a very nervous and insecure performance that works very well for the character.

The writing is truly exceptional, and the way every single subplot works to connect with the main story is beautifully done and is brought together wonderfully for a hilarious, but poignant ending.

If you like deadpan, awkward humor this will work very well for you. But even if you don't find the humor all that funny, this is still a very well-acted and written, and most importantly, entertaining.

It seems that movie-stars queue up when the Coen brothers make a movie or at least they don't say No when being asked to be a part of it. Anyway, the star line-up of this movie is almost unrivalled and creates expectations.

I would say that they can be met. It may not be the best Coen-movie, but it has the typical Coen ingredients which I do appreciate: an insane story line, weird characters and emphasis on the absurdity of life. A dismissed intelligence officer with alcohol problems, an incomprehensible wish for a cosmetic surgery, the exaggerated imagination of a simpleton and a lost USB-stick with secret service fragments are easily enough to start a chain-reaction into complete chaos which does not even make sense to CIA.

In all this chaos to me it is Frances McDormand that stands out with her performance but also Brad Pitt, George Clooney and John Malkovics are quite convincing in their roles as crazy guys, no matter how different their madness may be.

I would not have minded having some minutes more of that Coen Washington DC world because with a runtime of 90 minutes the film is a bit short. Oh well, no biggie!

Burn After Reading is a weird movie. It takes everything that makes a good spy flick and turn it on its head. You can't help but incredulously laugh at what happens. This is all about oddballs.

The good. Excellent acting. Totally off the wall characters, actions and situations, yet completely logical. Story with twists within twists. Well paced scenario. Solid dialogs. Nice action.

The actors. George Clooney, Frances McDormand, Brad Pitt, and John Malkovich play disturbingly crazy roles stuffed with delusion and heavily dosed with stupidity. While Richard Jenkins, David Rasche, and J.K. Simmons seem almost out of place as the standard bearers of reason.

The bad. Since it's so bizarre, it won't please everyone.

The ugly. Nothing.

The result. Offbeat and cooky comedy. Don't think you'll see your run of the mill kind of film and you'll have fun.

Nobody is quite there in this new bright farce by the Coen brothers. The plot is a smart excuse for a movie about nothing but appearing to be about a lot of things. Going backwards and forwards at the same time. Talk about "The Russians?" or planning to write a memoir. Brad Pitt is priceless and the innocence of his character is so believable that I wondered how many more surprises this actor has up his sleeve. He is a joy. George Clooney is also terrific and the Coens move through their crossed purposes with speed and elegance. I was totally immerse in their universe even if I didn't quite care what was going on. John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, Richard Jenkins and the unnerving Tilda Swinton complete the package of this movie that feels as if it was made for the sheer pleasure of it.