‘Burn After Reading’ Should be Burnt Before Viewing
-----The latest Coen Brothers film loves itself more than any audience could. So sure of its own satire, it is blind to the stupidity and annoyance it is. For another four paragraphs of me telling you how much I hate it, continuing reading.
-----‘Burn After Reading’ is a story of confusion and secrets as people with low IQ’s get their hands on angry people’s stuff. When former CIA big shot Osbourne Cox is fired, he starts a memoir about his life. When he leaves a disc containing it on the floor of a gym locker room, the ridiculously stupid employees think they’ve found some sort of government information that they can use for blackmail. Throw in Cox’s wife having an affair with married pimp Harry Pfarrer and you’ve got the basic summary of this ridiculous movie.
-----George Clooney plays Harry Pfarrer, a man so promiscuous he sleeps with about every one of the film’s main characters. Clooney is a mere caricature that is neither likable nor realistic. John Malkovich shows off his ability to yell as the frustrated Osbourne Cox. He too, is a caricature, if a somewhat more believable one than Clooney. All he really has to do is get angry and hit things. Frances McDormand plays Linda Litzke, a gym employee sure her life will be perfect if she gets reconstructive surgery just about everywhere. She’s both naïve and annoying in a role as disturbing as the movie itself. Brad Pitt is the only saving grace of the film in a role that’s one of the more openly stupid ones in the film. The difference between him and the rest of the cast is that he’s actually likable. His charisma shines through this very dumb character, enough so that it’s mildly entertaining watching his physical humor. Rounding out the cast are small roles from Tilda Swinton and Richard Jenkins, neither out of their typical roles, both just tools in making this horrible movie.
-----The Coen brothers are very proud of this film. In the movie there are a number of ways they find themselves clever. The overall script is one of those films where you relate to no one, and coherently care about no one. The characters are unbelievable and boring, and the script comes off as if a CIA satire was an original, groundbreaking idea. When the black humor sets in, you’ll be disgusted and bored, to the point you’ll wish you had done something more productive with your time, like sleeping. On that note, I did have to stop the film half way through and take a nap. It literally put me to sleep, not to mention I heard the same exact story from another viewer who watched the DVD. Ultimately, I hated this film. Why are comedies like these made? Stupid characters can still make for a great film, but they have to be lovable. Take ‘Zoolander’ for instance, everyone was dumb, but you liked them. If your characters aren’t likable, the satire should at least be sharp and original as it was in ‘Wall-E,’ for instance. ‘Burn After Reading’ has neither, and is one of the worst films of the year.
-----Look at the people working on this film. You’ve got Oscar Winning directors, an Oscar Winning actor, three more Oscar Nominated actors, and two Oscar Winning actresses. And yet, ‘Burn After Reading’ is the product presented. I am disgusted by this film composed solely of cheap satire with cheap characters. With nasty and unfunny black comedy, and a boring CIA-satire for a plot, no one should ever be subjected to watching ‘Burn After Reading.’ In its defense, if you love all of the Coen brother’s films, you may have a taste for this terrible piece of work. I, however, did not.
