I got the opportunity to go to the movies this weekend to see the new Coen Bros. film Burn After Reading. I would say I am an admirer of their films but I am not a raving lunatic fan. My favorite of their films is the often forgotten The Hudsucker Proxy. It's a great film made before Tim Robbins started taking himself so seriously. I am also a big fan of Fargo. More recently I really enjoyed No Country for Old Men, but I liked it more in pieces and not so much as a cohesive picture. I will argue that the scene between Anton Chigurh and the gas station operator is one of the most brilliantly directed and acted scenes in all of film. So, I expected to see a great film and I got that but in a way I did not expect.
For whatever reason, I thought this movie would be much more of a comedy. I don't know if the TV campaign gave me that impression but I wasn't expecting a Washington bumbling crime drama. What I got was a film that is the thematic successor to Fargo and that, my friends, is a good thing.
*****Light Spoilers Contained Below*****
Burn After Reading follows a seemingly random group of people that ultimately are connected in very intimate, if not dangerous ways. The film starts out with Ozzie Cox (Malkovich) loosing his job at the CIA. Cox is married to pediatric physician Tilda Swinton who is sleeping with a US Treasury a employee played by George Clooney. Rounding out the cast are the two gym employees played by Francis McDormand and Brad Pitt. Through sheer idoicy, the two Hardbodies employees stumble upon some "sensitive" documents belonging to Cox. This sets in motion a series of events that ruins the lives of just about everyone involved.
No other director (or directorial team) does the quircky crime drama quite like the Coen's. Each of the characters in the film are a touch off which makes them more real in a way than what you normally see in dramatic works. Let's be honest this is a drama with many moments of comedy. It's not a dram like No Country for Old Men, but there are serious consequences for the characters. It is difficult to classify this type of film, but that is one of the reasons why it succeeds. It has that touch of reality that so many films just can't pull off.
As usually the dialog and delivery are great and the film's comedic, dramatic, and surprise moments all fall on the correct beats. The only misstep is the casting of Brad Pitt as a clueless personal trainer. Even that statement is not true. Brad Pitt is the perfect choice, but they needed the Brad Pitt of 15 years ago. Here he just seems too old to be in that part. His mannerisms are right, his delivery is right, everything is right, but I just had a very hard time believing him as a personal trainer. Pitt is 45 but the character should have been in his mid 20s. I will admit even that criticsm is a nitpick but both I and my wife had issues with him in the role.
I think the greatest stroke of genius was the casting of Tilda Swinton as a shrewish wife of the CIA operative. Swinton scares me. Even before The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, she struck me as the perfect person to play a witch. She just has this very stark look that makes children want to cry themselves to sleep which makes it even more hilarious in that she is a pediatrician in this film. The one scene with her at work is EXACTLY how I would picture her with kids in real life. She doesn't have a whole lot to do in this film other than a few key moments required to move the plot along, but she is brilliant in her portrayal.
Clooney and McDormand are excellent as well. At first you wonder why Clooney is sleeping around with Swinton's character but then you realize he screws just about any female that walks. His descent into madness and paranoia is hilarious to watch even though you feel like he gets exactly what is coming to him. McDormand's role is a bit trickier to understand until you realize she really only cares about one thing and will sacrifice anything to get it. I would say she is in the William H. Macy role from Fargo in that in both films you have this average, if unintelligent, character that just wants to make a little bit better life for themselve and through some bad decisions ends up way over their head.
What the Coen's do best is characters and their work is on fine display here. There are cameos from J.K Simmons, who really needs more work in comedy as this guy really has a great knack for comedic dialog, and John Malkovich. I say cameo even though he has both billing and screen time, but he is underutilized. The story really isn't about his character but events that swirl around him. Sadly I think the film suffers from a lack of point. The flawed characters all seem to end up paying for their sins but ultimately nothing is really resolved. Maybe in that sense the film really is more of a comedy than a drama. Maybe I was wrong and really should classify the film as a comedy. Yeah, how about dark comedy? Does that work?
This is a good film, but not as good as No Country for Old Men or Fargo. It's fun, shocking, and even moving in parts and worth both the time and money it takes to go see the film, but in the end I have to rate it as an also ran in comparison to the rest of the directors' work. It is good, entertaining, almost mindless fun but nothing on the level of the Coen's best films. With that said I recommend the film in this after summer period.
For whatever reason, I thought this movie would be much more of a comedy. I don't know if the TV campaign gave me that impression but I wasn't expecting a Washington bumbling crime drama. What I got was a film that is the thematic successor to Fargo and that, my friends, is a good thing.
*****Light Spoilers Contained Below*****
Burn After Reading follows a seemingly random group of people that ultimately are connected in very intimate, if not dangerous ways. The film starts out with Ozzie Cox (Malkovich) loosing his job at the CIA. Cox is married to pediatric physician Tilda Swinton who is sleeping with a US Treasury a employee played by George Clooney. Rounding out the cast are the two gym employees played by Francis McDormand and Brad Pitt. Through sheer idoicy, the two Hardbodies employees stumble upon some "sensitive" documents belonging to Cox. This sets in motion a series of events that ruins the lives of just about everyone involved.
No other director (or directorial team) does the quircky crime drama quite like the Coen's. Each of the characters in the film are a touch off which makes them more real in a way than what you normally see in dramatic works. Let's be honest this is a drama with many moments of comedy. It's not a dram like No Country for Old Men, but there are serious consequences for the characters. It is difficult to classify this type of film, but that is one of the reasons why it succeeds. It has that touch of reality that so many films just can't pull off.
As usually the dialog and delivery are great and the film's comedic, dramatic, and surprise moments all fall on the correct beats. The only misstep is the casting of Brad Pitt as a clueless personal trainer. Even that statement is not true. Brad Pitt is the perfect choice, but they needed the Brad Pitt of 15 years ago. Here he just seems too old to be in that part. His mannerisms are right, his delivery is right, everything is right, but I just had a very hard time believing him as a personal trainer. Pitt is 45 but the character should have been in his mid 20s. I will admit even that criticsm is a nitpick but both I and my wife had issues with him in the role.
I think the greatest stroke of genius was the casting of Tilda Swinton as a shrewish wife of the CIA operative. Swinton scares me. Even before The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, she struck me as the perfect person to play a witch. She just has this very stark look that makes children want to cry themselves to sleep which makes it even more hilarious in that she is a pediatrician in this film. The one scene with her at work is EXACTLY how I would picture her with kids in real life. She doesn't have a whole lot to do in this film other than a few key moments required to move the plot along, but she is brilliant in her portrayal.
Clooney and McDormand are excellent as well. At first you wonder why Clooney is sleeping around with Swinton's character but then you realize he screws just about any female that walks. His descent into madness and paranoia is hilarious to watch even though you feel like he gets exactly what is coming to him. McDormand's role is a bit trickier to understand until you realize she really only cares about one thing and will sacrifice anything to get it. I would say she is in the William H. Macy role from Fargo in that in both films you have this average, if unintelligent, character that just wants to make a little bit better life for themselve and through some bad decisions ends up way over their head.
What the Coen's do best is characters and their work is on fine display here. There are cameos from J.K Simmons, who really needs more work in comedy as this guy really has a great knack for comedic dialog, and John Malkovich. I say cameo even though he has both billing and screen time, but he is underutilized. The story really isn't about his character but events that swirl around him. Sadly I think the film suffers from a lack of point. The flawed characters all seem to end up paying for their sins but ultimately nothing is really resolved. Maybe in that sense the film really is more of a comedy than a drama. Maybe I was wrong and really should classify the film as a comedy. Yeah, how about dark comedy? Does that work?
This is a good film, but not as good as No Country for Old Men or Fargo. It's fun, shocking, and even moving in parts and worth both the time and money it takes to go see the film, but in the end I have to rate it as an also ran in comparison to the rest of the directors' work. It is good, entertaining, almost mindless fun but nothing on the level of the Coen's best films. With that said I recommend the film in this after summer period.
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