Burn After Reading (2008)

2.0

COMEDY
U.S. Release Date: 09/12/08
Running Length: 96 Minutes
MPAA Classification: R (Profanity, Violence, Sexual Situations)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cast: George Clooney, Frances McDormand, Brad Pitt, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, Richard Jenkins
Director: Joel & Ethan Coen
Screenplay: Joel & Ethan Coen
Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki
Music: Carter Burwell
U.S. Distributor: Focus Features

Review by: Carter Moulton

01/06/09

There’s no doubt the Coen brothers are two of the most inventive filmmakers today, but with Burn After Reading we see an unfinished, messy film being sold as a work of genius. Joel & Ethan Coen always have an army of stars at their disposal. This star power really keeps the film from sinking, because by the end, I didn’t care what happened in the empty storyline. I’m the only person in the Milky-Way who wasn’t a fan of No Country For Old Men, so it’s no surprise that I don’t hand the Coens’ follow up a free pass. I think the two are perfectly capable of making classic film, but I don’t think (as most critics seem to) that everything they’ve made is quality. Burn After Reading falls a notch above average, thanks to Brad Pitt’s performance.

The film is about unintelligent people. The Coens intertwine stories, as they often do. It starts off with John Malkovich’s (Being John Malkovich, Of Mice and Men) character, Osbourne Cox, being demoted from his position as a CIA agent due to excessive drinking. Instead of accepting a lower-level arrangement, Cox furiously quits. Having nothing to fall back on financially, he decides to write a “memoir” about his experiences in the field. The Coens decided somewhere along the way that Malkovich’s main purpose in the film would be to swear. Over half of his lines are, “what the f***?” Cox’s wife, played by Tilda Swinton (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe), is having an affair with Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney). Harry is a womanizer, often leaving his wife to go on other secret dates.

Photo © Focus Features

One of these dates is named Linda Litzke (played by Coen regular Frances McDormand). Keep in mind that these characters are all very unintelligent people. Linda works at “Hardbodies” gym, and that’s exactly what she wants. Her main motivation throughout the film is plastic surgery. Chad Feldheimer, her co-worker, the most moronic by far, is played youthfully by Brad Pitt. His performance is side-splitting, and the film suffers when he’s not on the screen. Richard Jenkins (The Visitor) gets some screen time as the manager of “Hardbodies”, who has a secret crush on Linda. As you can see, everything is linked.

When Osbourne Cox visits “Hardbodies”, he accidently leaves his “memoirs” on the locker room floor, by way of compact disc. Chad and Linda, being the idiots that they are, misinterpret the data as “secret shit”, and decide to blackmail Cox. That’s the nucleus of an interesting yet thin narrative. Semi-comedy, semi-thriller, Burn After Reading wants to be like Fargo, but it simply isn’t as good. The characters’ actions and motives are brainless, which is the point I’m sure. If a farce is the ultimate goal, there has to be some sort of half-serious conflict other than a lost compact disc. It’s as if the Coens simply wind their characters up and let them go crazy. Some of the most vital moments in the storyline are force-fed to us after the fact. That’s no way to do it.

All of the actors were strangely typecast into their roles, save Brad Pitt, which makes his performance stand out. As a hip, gum-chewing, i-pod-listening bodybuilder, Pitt obviously has fun convincing us. Most of the comedy in Burn After Reading is severely dry—to the point of chafing. Pitt’s character is so vital to the film because his character is refreshingly plain-and-simple stupid. The Coen brothers seem to be pushing their egos to the front of the screen with this film, something I don’t really appreciate as a movie-goer. Uneven in tone and consistency, Burn After Reading can thank its actors for keeping it halfway afloat.