in Review

This Message Will Self-Destruct

Burn After Reading

I was hoping Colin would write this, but it’s getting pretty close to midnight.  Let’s see if I can crank one out.
Last year the Coen brothers blew us away what might be their crowning achievement, No Country for Old Men.  A genius blend of incredible cinematrography, a top notch script, and some incredible performances.  No Country was the best movie to come out of last year, and probably one of the best of the decade, so of course the Coens decided to follow it up with a goofy comedy.
Burn After Reading tells the stories of a collection of morons.  John Malkovich is Osbourne Cox, a CIA analysit who quits his job after getting a demotion.  He starts writing his memoir.  His wife, Katie (Tilda Swinton) is having an affair with Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney).  Two gym employees, Chad (Brad Pitt) and Linda (Frances McDormand) find a comprimising CD that mentions Osbourne, and try to blackmail him for money.  It all gets a lot crazier from there.
I will say that this is an entertaining film.  There are several very funny moments.  But there are a lot of problems too.  Burn After Reading is missing much of what made No Country work.  The performances aren’t anything special.  The cinematography is pretty weak.
In all honesty, though, I enjoyed this movie.  There are more than enough laughs to keep this film alive for its hour-and-a-half running time.  And that’s fine.

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