Go backOur reviews service now comes with an RSS feed so click the icon and syndicate. 
Talote staff recommend lovefilm.com. So click and be happy!
|
25/10/2008
|
Burn After Reading (2008)
|
Burn After Reading is a true Coen brothers film, No Country for Old Men made them a bit too mainstream and so they are back with a film that is similar to Fargo but in truth is not going to be recognised as a classic so readily.
Osbourne Cox (Malkovich) is a CIA analyst who has just quit because of a demotion. He decides that instead of actively searching for a new job he instead should be working on his memoirs. At aroudn the same time some secret information from his home computer finds its way into hardbodies gym where Linda Litzke and Chad Feldheimer find it and start trying to give it back to him.
The plot deals with multiple plots strands with a story also involving Osbourne's wife and all the strands end up intertwined. You get the sense that these circumstances could actually happen with these characters which gives it believability. The acting is relatively sharp throughout but that is to be expected from the likes of Clooney, Malkovitch and Pitt. It is Pitt though who stands out from the others with his slightly daft gym worker Chad. The plot essentially is pulled together by the CIA, which is a bit of a shame as it creates an ending much like No Country for Old Men where the ending is unclear and we have to have it explained to us as if we are stupid and the Coen's are the only ones who are clever enough to understand.
It is unclear who Burn After Reading is for, sure it has most of the Coen staples: weird names, slightly cooky plot etc. But it feels like they have gotten a little bit lazy with their art again. No Country for Old Men had me hooked until the final 20 minutes when it got a bit too silly and confused. The exact same thing happens except here they try and pull it together with a scene involving the CIA trying to make sense of it. It kinda works but kinda falls flat also. I have to say I enjoyed it, I will be honest though I think it was mainly because of the stars involved as the plot is kinda crazy. If anyone other than the Coen's had made this film then it would not even be on peoples radars but because people expect slightly strange films from them they can gloss over some of the features.
Burn After reading is enjoyable but not brilliant, it is a bit of a nothing of a plot but the Coen's manage to get quite a lot out of nothing and turn it into something pretty good. Expect to leave the cinema having seen an ending that leaves a bad taste in the mouth though.
Review by Jonathan Little
|
|
Our Rating:
|
Burn After Reading has 1 votes
The average score is 3
Please login to rate this film.
|
|
|
