David O'ConnellBurn After Reading
November 5th 2008 04:55
Returning to familiar ground after the skillfully sustained intensity of their thriller masterpiece, No Country for Old Men, the Coen brothers, Joel and Ethan, aim for entertainment alone rather than for any Oscar repeats with their latest blackly humourous drama.
John Malkovich is Osbourne Cox, a recently demoted CIA analyst whose tell-all memoirs, saved in disc form, fall into the hands of the dimmest duo imaginable – 2 employees of a gym called Hardbodies.
Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt), a frivolous, dim-witted health geek, and the nutty, insecure, relationship-starved Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand) soon have grandiose visions of using their acquisition of this incomprehensible - but presumably sensitive - information for financial gain.
They then do what seems most logical in their tiny minds after their attempted blackmail of Cox becomes messy and fruitless: they take the disc to the Russians!
Matters become further complicated when one of Linda’s latest internet-procured dates, Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney), turns out not only to be a Treasury agent, but is also having an affair with Cox’s glacial wife Katie (Tilda Swinton), who’s striving to divorce her husband, their marriage a loveless lost cause weighed down by his excessive drinking and miserable indifference.
In a farce as bleak as this, the Coens were never going to make it easy for any of their pathetically inept creations to come out on top, and with bodies and broken dreams piling up like bad debts with every new dire turn of events, it’s a given that none of them will!
Brad Pitt gives a flawless impression of a deluded, self-worshipping airhead, whilst Frances McDormand tries to conjure the ghost of Marge Gunderson with some amusingly idiosyncratic reactions. Clooney and Malkovich give equally inspired performances; only Tilda Swinton seems totally out of place in a Coen brothers universe, her unlikable Katie a rare case of miscasting.
Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki works with the directors for the first time in the absence of the esteemed Roger Deakins, whilst lifelong collaborator, composer Carter Burwell, provides the film’s most seriously straight-faced quality with a percussive, subtly melodic score.
The final scene, as the confused CIA boss (J.K. Simmons) and his chief underling (David Rasche) try to comprehend - without success - the latest nonsensical twists in this case, is an hilarious summation of all that the Coens have strived for in creating this clever but throwaway romp: to simply divert the attention of their audience for 90 minutes, leaving us as confounded by the stupidity and gullibility of our fellow humans, but with huge smiles on our faces nonetheless!
Though it lacks the substance of a Fargo or Raising Arizona, Burn After Reading, a cheeky reductive satire of conspiracy films, can sit comfortably in its place in the Coen’s canon of work.
John Malkovich is Osbourne Cox, a recently demoted CIA analyst whose tell-all memoirs, saved in disc form, fall into the hands of the dimmest duo imaginable – 2 employees of a gym called Hardbodies.
Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt), a frivolous, dim-witted health geek, and the nutty, insecure, relationship-starved Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand) soon have grandiose visions of using their acquisition of this incomprehensible - but presumably sensitive - information for financial gain.
They then do what seems most logical in their tiny minds after their attempted blackmail of Cox becomes messy and fruitless: they take the disc to the Russians!
Chad and Linda study the contents of their find
Matters become further complicated when one of Linda’s latest internet-procured dates, Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney), turns out not only to be a Treasury agent, but is also having an affair with Cox’s glacial wife Katie (Tilda Swinton), who’s striving to divorce her husband, their marriage a loveless lost cause weighed down by his excessive drinking and miserable indifference.
In a farce as bleak as this, the Coens were never going to make it easy for any of their pathetically inept creations to come out on top, and with bodies and broken dreams piling up like bad debts with every new dire turn of events, it’s a given that none of them will!
Harry and Linda at their first 'date'!
Brad Pitt gives a flawless impression of a deluded, self-worshipping airhead, whilst Frances McDormand tries to conjure the ghost of Marge Gunderson with some amusingly idiosyncratic reactions. Clooney and Malkovich give equally inspired performances; only Tilda Swinton seems totally out of place in a Coen brothers universe, her unlikable Katie a rare case of miscasting.
Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki works with the directors for the first time in the absence of the esteemed Roger Deakins, whilst lifelong collaborator, composer Carter Burwell, provides the film’s most seriously straight-faced quality with a percussive, subtly melodic score.
John Malkovich as the unhinged Osbourne Cox
The final scene, as the confused CIA boss (J.K. Simmons) and his chief underling (David Rasche) try to comprehend - without success - the latest nonsensical twists in this case, is an hilarious summation of all that the Coens have strived for in creating this clever but throwaway romp: to simply divert the attention of their audience for 90 minutes, leaving us as confounded by the stupidity and gullibility of our fellow humans, but with huge smiles on our faces nonetheless!
Tilda Swinto seems out of her element as Katie Cox
Though it lacks the substance of a Fargo or Raising Arizona, Burn After Reading, a cheeky reductive satire of conspiracy films, can sit comfortably in its place in the Coen’s canon of work.
| 75 |
| Vote |
Shared on
Subscribe to this blog
Comment by Janet Collins
The Social Critic
Janet Collins Blog
Comment by David O'Connell
Screen Fanatic
Comment by Janet Collins
The Social Critic
Janet Collins Blog
Comment by Cibbuano
20/20 Filmsight
Science News
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
Comment by David O'Connell
Screen Fanatic
I think the violence in No Country for Old Men was definitely shocking and brutal when it came Janet, certainly a different way of presenting it compared to any other Coen brothers film which partly explains my admiration for it. I just wish the Tommy Lee Jones parts had been trimmed, especially in the first half - admittedly they work somewhat as a counterbalance, but they slow the film down unnecessarily too I think.