BURN AFTER READING (DVD) (ENG SDH/SPAN/FREN/DOL DI
After the dark brilliance of No Country for Old Men, Burn After Reading may seem like a trifle, but few filmmakers elevate the trivial to art quite like Joel and Ethan Coen. Inspired by Stansfield Turner's Burn Before Reading, the comically convoluted plot clicks into gear when the CIA gives analyst Osborne Cox (John Malkovich) the boot. Little does Cox know his wife, Katie (Tilda Swinton, riffing on her Michael Clayton character), is seeing married federal marshal Harry (George Clooney, Swinton's Clayton co-star, playing off his Syriana role). To get back at the Agency, Cox works on his memoirs. Through a twist of fate, fitness club workers Linda (Frances McDormand) and Chad (Brad Pitt in a pompadour that recalls Johnny Suede) find the disc and try to wrangle a "Samaratin tax" out of the surly alcoholic. An avid Internet dater, Linda plans to use the money for plastic surgery, oblivious that her manager, Ted (The Visitor's Richard Jenkins), likes her just the way she is. Though it sounds like a Beltway remake of The Big Lebowski, the Coen entry it most closely resembles, this time the brothers concentrate their energies on the myriad insecurities endemic to the mid-life crisis--with the exception of Chad, who's too dense to share such concerns, leading to the funniest performance of Pitt's career. If Lebowski represented the Coen's unique approach to film noir, Burn sees them putting their irresistibly absurdist stamp on paranoid thrillers from Enemy of the State to The Bourne Identity. --Kathleen C. Fennessy Stills from Burn After Reading (Click for larger image)
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.0 / 5.0
Good movie, in good condition, fast shipping.:
I received the DVD in excellent condition and watched it while riding my triathlon bike inside on the trainer. Originally I purchased this movie because a housekeeping employee at the gym I personal train at said I remind him of Brad Pitt in this movie and so I wanted to check it out. Good cast and interesting plot with one twist I wasn't expecting. I would recommend this movie to other people.
It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that fling:
Five out of five sporks on the flinger rating scale. This is one of those "comedies" where you're watching the movie, wondering if the funny part is supposed to be happening yet. The way I hear it, the movie got made as follows: The Coen brothers took the script to the money people, who soon realized it wasn't funny in the least. They pointed this out as a serious obstacle, whereupon the Coen brothers said, "Yeah, but dig this: we'll cut the budget down to nothing by shooting the action as a variety of... more info
Burn After Reading:
Osbourne Cox, a Balkan expert, is fired at the CIA, so he begins a memoir. His wife wants a divorce and expects her lover, Harry, a philandering State Department marshal, to leave his wife. A diskette falls out of a gym bag at a Georgetown fitness center. Two employees there try to turn it into cash: Linda, who wants money for elective surgery, and Chad, an amiable goof. Information on the disc leads them to Osbourne who rejects their sales pitch; then they visit the Russian embassy. To sweeten the pot,... more info
Wow:
I'm extremely surprised about all of the negative reviews... well, actually, not really.
Burn After Reading tells a hilarious story of two very naive and absentminded gym workers (Brad Pitt and Frances McDormand) who find a copy of an ex CIA agent's (John Malkovich) Memoir and mistake it for classified government information. This begins the hilarious story of five characters who are each interwoven after one big misunderstanding. To appreciate this movie, you can't take it too seriously.... more info
