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Notes:
An analyst for the CIA is let go, he goes to his home and decides to work on his memoirs and his drinking. His wife plans to leave him for a married man and hires a lawyer. Information is collected for the divorce but a disc containing material for the CIA analyst's memoirs accidentally falls into the hands of Linda and Chad who try to exploit money from the CIA agent.
Comedy (Dark) Thriller - Like previous Coen Brothers films, "Burn After Reading" is a very
strange story. Actually there are multiple stories that end up
coming together in odd ways. There's almost no humor and the tone of
the story is often dark.
George Clooney LEATHERHEADS, MICHAEL CLAYTON, OCEAN'S THIRTEEN Frances McDormand MISS PETTIGREW LIVES FOR A DAY, FRIENDS WITH MONEY John Malkovich BEOWULF, ERAGON, LIBERTINE Tilda Swinton THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON Richard Jenkins STEP BROTHERS, THE VISITOR, RUMOR HAS IT Brad Pitt THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON Wri/Dir:Joel Coen NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, THE LADYKILLERS Prod/Wri:Ethan Coen NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, INTOLERABLE CRUELTY
PROFANITY: 54 F-words, 2 GD's, 18 S-words, several others. SEX/NUDITY: Sex sounds, sex motions, sexual machine, no nduity. VIOLENCE: A few people are killed, one is hacked to death. DRUGS/ALCOHOL: Some minor drinking. ACTION: None COMEDY: Just a few very minor humorous moments. Some dark humor.
Berardinelli, Internet CriticFull Review Good Burn After Reading likely won't be a major Oscar contender for 2009, but that doesn't mean it won't offer a hell of a good time in theaters toward the end of 2008.
Roger EbertFull Review Good It's funny, sometimes delightful, sometimes a little sad, with dialogue that sounds perfectly logical until you listen a little more carefully and realize all of these people are mad.
USA TodayFull Review Good The brisk pace and sharp humor in Burn After Reading is a welcome relief after weeks of witless comedies and overblown action flicks.
NewsdayFull Review Good Another brutal and fitfully hilarious farce from the Coen Brothers, though the nagging nihilism sometimes cancels out the comedy.
Note: The rating
above is our interpretation of what the critic would give this movie based on
their review. We are not affiliated with these critic's in any way.
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DETAILED OPINIONS
The positive and negative comments made by moviegoers are very
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OPINION OVERVIEW The following is the original "What's Worth
Watching" write-up for this movie.
Moviegoer Opinions:
Based on a theater exit polling of 106 moviegoers:
TEENS: The teens thought it was great, but there really weren't enough reviews to be very accurate.
TWENTYSOMETHINGS: Three-quarters of the males enjoyed it very much. The remaining quarter was split between average and below average. The females didn't enjoy it as much. Only about half rated it highly. Fortunately, half of the remaining half rated it at least "Good/Average," which is decent. Recommended for the guys but the ladies should proceed with caution.
ADULTS: Basically, these reviews indicate that half enjoyed it very much, 25% rated it "Good/Average," which is decent and the remaining ones disliked it. These reviews are too mixed to be of much help. Chances are, most of you will enjoy it, at least to some degree.
At the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency in Arlington, Va., analyst Osborne Cox (John Malkovich) arrives for a top-secret meeting. Unfortunately for Cox, the secret is soon out: he is being ousted. Cox does not take the news particularly well and returns to his Georgetown home to work on his memoirs and his drinking, not necessarily in that order. His wife Katie (Tilda Swinton) is dismayed, though not particularly surprised; she is already well into an illicit affair with Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney), a married federal marshal, and sets about making plans to leave Cox for Harry.
Elsewhere in the Washington, D.C. suburbs, and seemingly worlds apart, Hardbodies Fitness Centers employee Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand) can barely concentrate on her work. She is consumed with her life plan for extensive cosmetic surgery, and confides her mission to can-do colleague Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt). Linda is all but oblivious to the fact that the gym's manager Ted Treffon (Richard Jenkins) pines for her even as she arranges dates via the Internet with other men.
When a computer disc containing material for the CIA analyst's memoirs accidentally falls into the hands of Linda and Chad, the duo are intent on exploiting their find. As Ted frets, "No good can come of this," events spiral out of everyone's and anyone's control, in a cascading series of darkly hilarious encounters.
