Burn After Reading
I have had a difficult time deciding whether I liked this movie or not. It’s one of those movies that you are supposed to like, and if you don’t, you are just not sophisticated enough of a movie fan. How can you pan a Coen Brothers movie right after they made “No Country For Old Men?â€Â
I don’t think anyone will actually pan the movie. Maybe there will be some people that really want to say they didn’t like it, and then they will look over their shoulders and see all the critics shaking their heads, so they just nod and agree it was brilliant.
Well, I have decided that I didn’t love the movie, but I didn’t quite hate it. It is an average artsy comedy, maybe trying a little too hard to be quirky. Some of the performances seemed a bit forced. Some of the writing felt too much like masturbation. Sure you get off, but after you wash your hands, you are still alone. If I had to describe my feelings after watching the movie in one word, I think that word would be unfulfilled (speaking of masturbation!).
None of the characters were very likable, except Brad Pitt’s character of Chad Feldheimer. As a matter of fact, Brad Pitt was actually quite brilliant in this movie. George Clooney on the other hand, was just plain annoying. He had that thing going on where he shakes his head way too much when he is talking. I hate that. Is that just me? John Malkovich was his usual solid intense self, and Frances MacDormand was, well, I can’t make up my mind. Was she just good at playing a wreck or has she actually become one?
Despite all of my complaints, I have to admit there were a few very funny moments in the film. This might be one of those movies where watching it again on DVD your opinion begins to change. Maybe that is the true genius of the movie. Maybe it’s so big, so complex, so quirky, I could not wrap my mind around it in a single viewing. Maybe, but I doubt it.
It was a comedy with an all star cast, and two of the hottest writer/directors around that wound up being about nothing and didn’t quite hit the mark.
September 17th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Pitts character does indeed look like he’s fun to watch. All star ensembles lately are more hype than substance, but I can’t wait to see it nonetheless.
October 9th, 2008 at 4:37 am
The Coen brothers are more famously noted for movies such as Fargo and Raising Arizona, which I think would be the better basis of comparison in talking about “Burn After Reading”, since the satire and humour run parallel lines in the two.
The humour is dry, hard to catch and not so ‘blatant’, making it funnier for older generations versus children who want slapstick jokes.
I’m confused as to whether you wrote your “feelings” on this movie to diverge from everyone else and thus elevate your criticism by actually saying a Coen brother’s movie failed, in your opinion.
I can say that I honestly enjoyed the movie. A lot of Coen brother movies are about nothing, that end blandly, but that’s the humour of it in a way, too. The end is sort of a thud, a “…wait, what?” sort of thing. By the way, have you seen Frances in any other movie? She often plays a character like she did in burn after reading-I’m pretty sure her “real life” has no affect on her character, and even if it did, it brought out a more brilliant, realistic character, so why should it matter?
The movie was an oddball, they had a lot of chances of overdoing a lot of their jokes that could have been outstretched but they keep them simple, there’s always room for other jokes and that’s one of the brilliance of the Coen brothers. They just slam down jokes quickly, and go over them to the point where people often even miss them.
All in all, I don’t feel your review actually contained anything worth reading. I don’t feel I understand why you don’t like the movie, I only feel that you wrote the review as you did so you wouldn’t be like everyone else. Maybe in comparison to No Country For Old Men, yeah, Burn After Reading was a bit out of place and weird, but when you really get into what it is the Coen brothers have created-no, it goes along just fine.
February 25th, 2009 at 4:09 am
It was just insanity, it didn't have to make a point, it was pretty funny, but nothing over the top. It was a refreshing breath of fresh air from the big budget Hollywood features with complex intrigue and compelling plot twists. I liked the acting, except for Swinton and Malkoshitz. I loathe them, they belong in theatre, not theater. Although, I did love Malko's line about the League of Morons, I am going to use that at work from now on, heh!