A Moving Picture: Burn After Reading (2008)

Well then...that was slightly disappointing.

I'm not saying that because this movie came after "No Country for Old Men". My disappointment has nothing to do with that. My disappointment stems from this just not being on the same level as other Coen Bros. movies. Also, all the advertisements play this movie up like it's a quirky comedy, but really it isn't. Yes, it's quirky. Yes, it's occasionally funny. However, it's more like a drama with occasional bouts of humor and bouts of suspense but not like other Coen movies. So if you go in thinking it's going to be a comedy, you're going to be disappointed because there aren't a gut busting amount of laughs. In a way, it feels disjointed. The first half of the movie is where most of the Coen quirk and comedy is present. It's like watching The Big Lebowski. There's serious stuff in it, but it's kept light-hearted. Then almost abruptly, the movie takes a darker turn. This is the spy thriller half of the movie. Things here are darker, more interesting, and suspenseful, but not really any laughs until J.K. Simmons pops up.



The plot centers around Osbourne Cox (played by John Malkovich, who is playing a more eccentric version of John Malkovich), a CIA analyst who quits his job because he was demoted due to a so-called "drinking problem". So he decides to write a memoir about his life. His cold hearted bitch of a wife (Tilda Swinton) is sleeping with Harry Pferrar (George Clooney), an eccentric womanizer/ Treasury agent. She wants to divorce Cox to be with Harry who is also leaving his spouse. But she needs records of his finances so she can get his moolah. She copies everything off his computer including his memoir and puts it on a disc. Eventually, the disc ends up at a gym in the hands of Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt), a physical trainer there. Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand) also works there. She's a lonely woman who badly wants cosmetic surgery because she thinks guys will like her more. However, she can't get the money for it. They mistake the data on the disc for top secret stuff and decide to return it to Cox for a reward. Then it sorta turns into blackmail when Cox refuses to pay any reward. Meanwhile, Linda has turned to online dating and by coincidence starts a relationship with Harry. Eventually , all the threads intersect and it turns into a bloodbath. The whole thing is being monitored by the CIA who are baffled as to what in the world is going on.

The plot itself is okay, but by the end, even the CIA director (Simmons) has no idea what the point was. He even asks "So, what did we learn from all this?" and the answer is pretty much a shrug.

Is it good? Is it entertaining? Sure. It was decent. The acting was great but no one really got enough time to shine much. Brad Pitt and George Clooney pretty much steal the show for me. There's nothing particularly terrible about the movie. The direction and cinematography are solid. The dialogue is really witty and when it works, it works greatly. I can see why people like it, but to me it was just alright. Not as great as everybody says. Maybe just a good movie, but probably not one I'd recommend to people or watch often.