Burn After Reading

But do not burn after watching


DETAILS:
Released - 17 October 2008
Certificate - 15
Running Time - 95min
Directors/Screenwriters - Ethan Coen and Joel Coen
Producers -Tim Bevan, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Cinematography- Emmanuel Lubezki
Editing - Ethan Coen and Joel Coen (as Roderick Jaynes)
Music - Carter Burwell
Theatrical distributor - Universal
Country - USA



SYNOPSIS:
Osbourne Cox (John Malkovich) is let go from the CIA due to his drinking problem. Upon his reitrement he decides it is time to write his memoirs. However, his wife Katie's (Tilda Swinton) attorney loses the word files on a disc at the local gym. Stupid fitness instructors Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt) and Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand) feel the disc has political significance and can be bought off to the Russains for a high sum of money. At the same time seedy Harry Pfarrerr (George Clooney) is seeing all the women in the film behind everyone's backs. Before long all the stupid characters find themselves caught up in a wild goose chase.


REVIEW:
If you were to classify the Coen Brother’s career you would have to split their work into two categories. On the one hand you would have their Oscar nominated critically acclaimed contemporary works of art such as No Country for Old Men, Blood Simple, Miller’s Crossing, The Hudsucker Proxy, Barton Fink and Fargo. But on the other hand you have a very hit and miss quirky comedy side that includes The Big Lebowski (hit), The Man Who Wasn’t There (hit) O’ Brother Where Art Thou (hit), Intolerable Cruelty (miss), Raizing Arizona (miss) The Ladykillers (extreme miss). But as far as Burn After Reading goes, in regards to their comedic side, I think this lies somewhere in the middle between hit and miss.

When Burn After Reading wants to be funny, the humour absolutely hits the mark. It may be a film full of idiots but it is essentially a comedy with brains and is a political spoof with a lot to express about modern day American culture and the idiocy that comes with it. It is much more difficult to produce an offbeat comedy with substance and awkward situations than a laugh- a-minute, punch-line rubbish. The Coen’s comedy once again produces something far funnier and poignant in the long run. With the US lapping up Adam Sandler the Coen’s comedies puts my faith back in humanity. With a talented A-list cast to die for you could not dream for anything better. Hopefully with the likes of Brad Pitt and George Clooney at the helm it will attract a mainstream audience who will agree with me.

However, my main criticism of this film is that the Coen’s didn’t quite reach their full potential. Not as coherent as The Big Lebowski, with an equal amount of various characters, the film feels a little confused as to who deserves most of our attention. Ultimately each character has too brief a screen time and the film overall feels like a collection of sketches rather than one overall piece of work. Instead of being a layered script with one goal this certainly has layers but they are only seen individually rather than alongside each other. Also the humour at times could do with a little more pace, not too much as this would take away the Coen’s quirky charm, as it just feels like there is not enough confrontation to bring out consistent humour. We want to see more of John Malkovich completely losing his mind! Burn After Reading has an indecisive, incomplete, up in the air, feel about it. It does develop but a bit too slowly but I assure you it is worth watching for the ending where everything comes together.

TO SUM UP:

In relation to the Coen’s back catalogue of out and out comedies this does not equate to The Big Lebowski (my personal favourite) or Fargo, the only film of theirs to bridge the gap between quirky offbeat comedy and Oscar winning art. Although I do not think it is too far off the mark. There was perhaps a better film at the root of the script but nevertheless I think Burn After Reading will be remembered in the Coen’s back catalogue as one of their stronger works. In the context of recent times it still remains one the most original, thought provoking comedies currently out there.