Review - Burn After Reading

Studio/Production Company: Focus Features
Director: Joel and Ethan Coen
Written by: Joel and Ethan Coen
Rating: R for pervasive language, some sexual content and violence
Release Date: September 12, 2008 (theatrical), December 21, 2008 (DVD)
Genre: Black Comedy
Strong Points:
Weak Points:
Technical Score: B
Artistic Score: B+
Final Score (not an average): B+
Moral Warnings: Strong language throughout, including many F-words; affairs are a main theme of the film; there is a brief sex scene (it is seen in passing and for no more than a few seconds--nothing is really seen); two instances of violence, one of which is rather unrestrained and shows from a distance a man striking another man in the head with an axe. It is somewhat graphic.


In 2007, the Coen brothers, two of the most prominent filmmakers in the business, wrote and directed a masterpiece, No Country for Old Men. It received universal acclaim from both critics and movie lovers alike, and it won them the coveted Academy Award for Best Picture.

Burn After Reading sees these two young men returning what is perhaps their most familiar territory, the black comedy. Those expecting another No Country for Old Men will not find it here, but they should by no means be disappointed. Burn After Reading is smartly written, directed, and acted, earning its place right alongside other Coen greats such as Fargo and the Big Lebowski.

John Malkovich plays Osbourne Cox, an analyst for the CIA who has recently lost his position. Angered by at the demotion, he quits his job completely. His wife Katie (Tilda Swinton), rather dismayed by this, believes that the time has come to part ways with her husband and marry a man she has been having an affair with for quite some time (played by George Clooney). She is urged by her lawyer to get a copy of her husband's financial information; she does this, accidentally obtaining Osbourne's memoirs in the process. Unfortunately, the copy is accidentally lost in a fitness center, whereupon it is discovered by two fitness instructors (Brad Pitt and Frances McDormand). They find the memoirs on the disc, and take it to be top secret CIA documents, and the fun begins.

Much like some of the Coens' previous comedies, Burn After Reading's plot jumps all over the place. That's not to say that it is difficult to follow; it's rather easy, actually. Instead, it is the very essence of unpredictability. What occurs around the next corner is always an uncertainty. If you're of the habit of vocally proclaiming what will happen next in a film (like I sometimes do when watching a movie that lacks originality) you will, undoubtedly, look like an idiot by the time the credits are rolling. Guessing the next puzzle piece is impossible. And by the time all the pieces are in place, you'll be laughing at the ridiculousness of it all.

But the plot, though it is expertly and hilariously put together, is not what makes Burn After Reading so great. It's the characters and the teamwork that makes them so memorable. The Coens create and write, and the actors realize their parts. It's not often that one comes across such a strong script that is so strongly acted. But that's the case in this film. A number of the actors have worked with the Coens on previous occasions, of note being Frances McDormand and George Clooney, and the chemistry that they must have with these brothers is evident on screen. Clooney is hilarious as he worries about shell food and what it will do to his larynx, then eats it anyway and shrugs off the brief effects. McDormand brings laughs as she calls her legs "hamhocks" during a conversation with her doctor about plastic surgery.

But the greatest performance is firmly held by none other than Mr. Brad Pitt, who plays a nerdy, happy-go-lucky personal trainer. He is in a class of his own in this picture. I don't wish to take credit from the others involved in Burn After Reading, but the best laughs to be had come from him. Pitt takes the Coen's interpretation of his character and continues to add to it throughout the film, and that helps make this movie one of the best, if not the best of, comedies of 2008.

In reference to moral content, strong language is used from the opening scene until the end credits. The F-word is used more than any other curse word, and it is occasionally combined with the Lord's name. While sex isn't explicitly shown, there is a brief scene with some barely visible rear nudity. A man also builds a machine that allows a woman to pleasure herself, and its capabilities are briefly demonstrated (no one actually uses it). Additionally worthy of note would be a small number of acts of violence, all of which are rather graphic. A man gets shot in the head, and we see lots of blood afterward. Another man is shot in the chest, and there is a brief shot of one man striking another on the head with an axe. In short, the movie earns its R rating.

All in all, Burn After Reading is a welcome addition to the Coens' other great comedies. The zany characters are what ultimately makes the film so enjoyable as it balances great writing with great acting, with an especially notable performance by Brad Pitt. If you can stomach the moral content, and have enjoyed the Coens' past work, there is no reason to pass the film by.
-Zak Mellgren (zak@revolve21.com)