***1/2 Stars
The Coen Brothers are extremely smart people. After following up with their Oscar winning No Country For Old Men, they have crafted another original and stylistic film, one that is fun and brilliantly stupid. It's also the #1 film in the country ($19 million opening), coming in as a career high for the dynamic duo.
There are times where Burn After Reading reaches heights of something very special. It can also be extremely unsettling. But I guess that's what the film is all about. You're suppose to laugh you're ass off while looking at the person next to you going "Are people really like this?" Realism isn't the films strong point, but it certainly gets its point across in a weirdly seductive way.
The film has an ensemble of some of the best actors in the world. And everyone has a moment of genius. George Clooney plays Harry Pfarrer, a happily married man who also likes to fool around with dates on the Internet. He'll date anyone. He hooks up with Linda Litzke (the always impressive Frances McDormand) a gym specialist who is willing to go to the ends of the earth for some seriously ridiculous plastic surgeries because she believes she's "gotten about as far as this body can take her." Haha, um, good for you?
Her gym co-worker, Chad (Brad Pitt) decides to help her get those surgeries when they find a CD with apparent CIA documents left at the gym. They think this stuff is worth millions. It does in fact belong to ex-CIA member Osborne Cox (John Malkovich), but it is nowhere near what they think it is. Osbourne is married to Katie (recent Oscar-winner Tilda Swinton) who is sleeping with Harry Pfarrer.
So you see? It's all one huge circle of lies, sex, hebetudinous behavior, and a whole lot of burning after reading. The title of the film makes sense when the report of this so-called "CIA file" gets to the actual CIA. They read the story, and look to each other with a puzzled, puzzled face. When it gets to a CIA boss (J.K Simmons), he looks at it and literally has no idea what the hell is going on. "Report back to me when it makes sense," he says. It never does.
The cast rocks. Pitt, Clooney, Swinton, McDormand are all solid, but I have to ad, personally, that watching John Malkovich scream What the F*** every other line is worth the price of admission.
Burn After Reading clocks in at a brisk 96-minutes, so don't expect much. It's like going to a hypnotist and watching everyone acting completely moronic. Do you laugh? Sure. Do you shake your head after its over in full embarrassment for every character involved? Of course. Do we eventually report back saying it finally makes sense? Like I said, proudly, it never does.
The Coen Brothers are extremely smart people. After following up with their Oscar winning No Country For Old Men, they have crafted another original and stylistic film, one that is fun and brilliantly stupid. It's also the #1 film in the country ($19 million opening), coming in as a career high for the dynamic duo.
There are times where Burn After Reading reaches heights of something very special. It can also be extremely unsettling. But I guess that's what the film is all about. You're suppose to laugh you're ass off while looking at the person next to you going "Are people really like this?" Realism isn't the films strong point, but it certainly gets its point across in a weirdly seductive way.
The film has an ensemble of some of the best actors in the world. And everyone has a moment of genius. George Clooney plays Harry Pfarrer, a happily married man who also likes to fool around with dates on the Internet. He'll date anyone. He hooks up with Linda Litzke (the always impressive Frances McDormand) a gym specialist who is willing to go to the ends of the earth for some seriously ridiculous plastic surgeries because she believes she's "gotten about as far as this body can take her." Haha, um, good for you?
Her gym co-worker, Chad (Brad Pitt) decides to help her get those surgeries when they find a CD with apparent CIA documents left at the gym. They think this stuff is worth millions. It does in fact belong to ex-CIA member Osborne Cox (John Malkovich), but it is nowhere near what they think it is. Osbourne is married to Katie (recent Oscar-winner Tilda Swinton) who is sleeping with Harry Pfarrer.
So you see? It's all one huge circle of lies, sex, hebetudinous behavior, and a whole lot of burning after reading. The title of the film makes sense when the report of this so-called "CIA file" gets to the actual CIA. They read the story, and look to each other with a puzzled, puzzled face. When it gets to a CIA boss (J.K Simmons), he looks at it and literally has no idea what the hell is going on. "Report back to me when it makes sense," he says. It never does.
The cast rocks. Pitt, Clooney, Swinton, McDormand are all solid, but I have to ad, personally, that watching John Malkovich scream What the F*** every other line is worth the price of admission.
Burn After Reading clocks in at a brisk 96-minutes, so don't expect much. It's like going to a hypnotist and watching everyone acting completely moronic. Do you laugh? Sure. Do you shake your head after its over in full embarrassment for every character involved? Of course. Do we eventually report back saying it finally makes sense? Like I said, proudly, it never does.
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