Burn After Reading
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Movie Reviews of Burn After Reading
Movie Review: Enjoyed both film and DVD version - what the DVD contained
Summary: 5 Stars
First off, if you've already seen this in theaters, consider seeing the DVD, if only for the Bonus features, where the Coen Brothers and the cast of Burn After Reading show glimpses into how the Coen process works.
In Burn After Reading, they tie together such diverse subjects as liposuction,spies and gym instructors. Frances McDormand, who is a favorite of the Coens, once again shines in this movie. She is a favorite of mine and I have to watch closely to see the art behind her work. She is simply believable to me in nearly every role.
George Clooney and Brad Pitt both get to be awkward and clownish. Pitt plays a gym instructor who discovers a disc created by Osborne Cox (played by John Malkovich) Cox is not having a good year, having been demoted as a spy and also about to have his marriage implode.
When Pitt and McDormand (both gym instructors) discover the tape, it sets into motion a whole sequences of plot twists and turns that kept me hooked. I foresaw some of them but was surprised by many other scenes....and some moments were simply laugh out loud funny. Others were horrifying. Mostly, it was a very weird movie, in the best sense of the word "weird".
I also felt that there was something poignant about this film. In the ending scene, when there is musing about what happened and the lessons learned, I felt the Coens were coming as close to delivering an overall message - or warning - as they ever do, perhaps hinting at the dangers about being too complacent about security and safety and depending on the government to provide that. The movie left me wanting more, so I went back and looked at key scenes again.
Also recommended? The shooting script for this movie.
Movie Review: Plot is so fast paced I had no time to think. But I did laugh a lot. I loved it!
Summary: 5 Stars
I had never heard of this 2008 Coen Brothers comedy. If it did play the theaters it must have had a short run. And I don't remember publicity of any kind. But it was on cable TV and when it listed the cast of characters, I knew I had to see it.
First of all, there is Frances McDormand. I've loved her performances ever since I saw Fargo years ago. In this film she plays the role of an aging gym instructor who doesn't have enough money for the cosmetic surgery which she is sure will help her land a man. She's looking for love through the internet and the men she meets are all losers. Another gym instructor, and her friend, is Brad Pitt, playing the part of a rather dense golden haired trainer. One day they just happen to find a computer disk which looks like it has some secret CIA information on it. The disk actually belongs to John Malkovich, who has been fired from the CIA and is writing a book about his experiences. Whether the so-called secret information on the disk is actually real is always a question mark. Malkovich is married to Tilda Swinton, a thin society type who is having an affair with George Clooney. Clooney is quite a womanizer. Even though he thinks he is happily married, there are several women in his life. Frances McDormand becomes one of them.
The plot is so faced paced that I had no time to think. But I did laugh a lot. Every scene is stretched to its outrageous edge. There's gunplay and murder throughout and most of the characters meet their end in some serendipitously outrageous way. The conclusion is fun and satisfying even though most of the characters have been killed off.
I am not one for comedies. But I loved this one. Highly recommended.
Movie Review: The Coens Strike Back
Summary: 5 Stars
I love the Coen Brothers, but wasn't really a fan of "No Country for Old Men." As I would expect from filmmakers of their caliber, it was well-shot, well-paced and well-performed by the actors. I just found it to be overly bleak, lacking much of the humor I usually look for in their movies, and largely undeserving of the massive praise and perceived intellectual depth heaped on it by critics, audiences, and the Academy.
"Burn After Reading" is a refreshing indication that the Coens have neither allowed the massive success of "No Country" to get to their heads, nor lost their twisted, tongue-in-cheek sense of humor. An absolutely superb cast, a tight script, and their usual technical brilliance have combined to form what suspiciously resembles a massive, big-budget middle finger to, well, everyone. Less than a year after America searched for, and claimed to find, "deep meaning" in the pessimistic gorefest of "No Country," they made a hilarious, entertaining movie that means absolutely nothing, and actually flat-out states that it means absolutely nothing.
People who claim that the movie isn't funny clearly don't understand that the movie itself is the joke. (The movie itself is pretty funny too though, I guess just maybe not for everyone). It was interesting to see early reviews come in, to watch the same bandwagon-jumping critics who lavished praise on "No Country" grasping for some kind of intellectual or moral purpose in all this, only to be confounded by the final scene which states, in plain, unmistakeable terms, that there is no such thing to be found here.
Movie Review: Insanity Rules: Coen-Style
Summary: 5 Stars
Though not as manic as "Raising Arizona", and less subtle than "Fargo", the Coens have once again presented the "human condition" with comedic style and aplomb. They've never missed in their casting choices, and once again we have a bunch of clueless crazies. Indeed, Brad Pitt took Johnny Suede to new heights and beyond. The always reliable Frances McDormand looks as if nothing could be more fun, and Clooney and Malkovich are so very intense, creating outrageously lovable idiots. Tilda Swinton is the only grounded character, with that glint of satiric bitchiness that is most enjoyable. Richard Jenkins is also grounded, though baffled by the insanity. I can't blab away the plot, as others did, but suffice it to say that this is a story about bad decisions taken way beyond comprehension. It's no end of fun, and if you pay attention, you'll be breathless when it's over. Terrific film, and another feather in the enigmatic hat of the Coen brothers. They cannot be labelled, out-guessed or pinned down in any genre; they succeed in all: "Miller's Crossing", "O Brother...", "No Country...", and, especially, their first, "Blood Simple". (I still don't know what the hell was going on in "Barton Fink"). The Coens are eclectic in their choices, and isn't that refreshing!? Unfortunately, there weren't enough DVD extras for me. It was apparent, though, that all involved were thrilled to be a part of it.Movie Review: Thanks for the memoir
Summary: 5 Stars
CIA Superior: So what did we learn from this?
CIA Officer: Um... I don't know.
Short Attention Span Summary (SASS):
1. CIA analyst Cox (John Malkovich) has a falling out with the agency, and decides to write a tell-all memoir.
2. His wife (Tilda Swinton) wants a divorce, and to make sure she's forearmed with his finances, she burns a copy of some of his computer files
3. Said files fall into the incapable hands of clueless gym employees Chad (Brad Pitt) and Linda (Frances McDormand), who decide to try extortion as a fund raising exercise.
4. No prizes for guessing that it doesn't quite work as planned
5. Meanwhile, Mrs. Cox is having an affair, Linda is looking for both love and cosmetic surgery, and Treasury agent Harry (George Clooney) is sleeping around.
6. Black comedy of errors follows with some rather unpredictable twists.
Fans of black comedy will thoroughly enjoy this movie, which is well directed, brilliantly acted and immensely entertaining. Kudos go to Malkovich, Pitt, Swinton and Clooney, but the top award definitely goes to McDormand, who will have you sharing her pain.
Four and a half stars go to the Coen Brothers for this bleak look at life, adultery, blackmail and people behaving badly.
Amanda Richards