Burn After Reading

Review by Loc

With the shine of Oscars still fresh in everyone’s memory, the Coen brothers unleashed the off-beat comedy, Burn After Reading. Starring an all-star ensemble cast, Burn After Reading leverages the best of the Coen’s to deliver a semi-kooky spy flick with little spying or political intrigue. Instead, the brothers serve up a convoluted story about bumbling nitwits, incorrigible government spooks and awkward laughs at the expense of spy clichés. Quick hit: it’s a clusterf*ck, but the movie acknowledges and embraces that fact.

Yup, a clusterbomb. The ensemble cast, comprised of George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Tilda Swinton, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, and JK Simmons, are unknowingly intertwined in a case of adultery-meets-spy-vs-spy and no one comes out the better. To really enjoy this movie, you have to experience the story as it unfolds, so little plot summary will follow. What I will say is that George Clooney is decent as an irredeemable man-ho, Brad Pitt is amusing as an overgrown airhead, John Malkovich is a f-bomb dropping version of himself like in Being John Malkovich, and Tilda Swinton is a cold-hearted beeoytch like the White Queen from Narnia. They do well in their roles and they’re entertaining, which is a good thing.

As far as the comedy, it’s a bit off-beat. Some notes work, some don’t, but overall, it’s a middling affair with little to hang its hat on. Sure, Brad Pitt’s buffoonery is OK, but really, it’s a 40 year old guy playing a role that would have been perfect for the 30 year old version of himself. The funniest moments come from JK Simmons, otherwise known as J Jonah Jameson from the Spiderman flicks. He’s got the hard-ass, “why the hell are you bothering me with this crap” character down pat. In this film, he doesn’t overdo it with histrionics, just simple befuddlement as you or I would react to the proceedings. Good stuff.

More than anything, Burn After Reading seems to be a multipart satirical look at the government, the decline of marital fidelity, and the copious amounts of stupidity present in our country. There’s not a redeeming character in this flick, and I don’t know that there was ever any aim to have one. Even the supposed “good wife” ends up with a throw-away “I’m cheating on your ass too” moment, removing her from the pantheon of righteousness. Think of this flick as a big, smiling f-you letter to the nation. It’s nice that way.

Overall, Burn After Reading has its moments, but not many of them. It’s mildly entertaining, but not much more. The performances are decent, but the ensemble doesn’t quite satisfy. In the end, it’s a mediocre movie with some bright spots thrown in. Out of the $50,000 blackmail ransom for CIA documents, Burn After Reading only gets a counteroffer for $30,000. It’s a miss.