"Oh my f'ck!", WTF happened?

Rating: 6/10 (11 September 2008)

After commercial and critical smash No Country For Old Men took the country by storm last year, the Coen Brothers had thrust themselves into the land of very high expectations for their follow up, which, admittedly, couldn't be more different. Their latest film featuring a stellar cast is unfortunately not as stellar as the performers. I found it to be frustrating and predictable, although well written and well acted. Maybe I just didn't like it and I'm missing all the 'charm' that is giving it the Oscar Buzz...wait, that's just Brad Pitt.
Pitt is the shining star here, there's no doubt about it. If it weren't for the fact that he has the smallest role in the film in terms of importance and screen time, he'd be a shoe-in for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination. Now that doesn't seem as likely, although he more than deserves it. Pitt is off the wall hilarious, inventive, wild, thoughtful, and flat out irresistible. This marks a change from his darker performances, like Fight Club or Seven, and his charming performances, like in the Ocean's trilogy and Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
The rest of our cast is exciting as well. George Clooney plays a sort of hybrid of his ladies' man & idiotic characters, though I think the character was more paranoid than stupid. He did a great job as well. John Malkovich and Frances McDormand are great as well, with the latter being lovably hyper and stupid, and the former putting on a great show as far as the humor of insanity goes. Malkovich's understanding of the script and tone of the film is wonderful.
And that's about where my applause for the film stops. There are no technical problems with the film, as it is a well made film, although I felt the film dragged a bit in the beginning, taking far too long to get going. In fact, the plot of the film isn't established until about 35 minutes in, if that. It also felt far too long in terms of runtime, when in reality it was quite short. I also have problems with the predictability of the film, which is unusual considering the film is the brainchild of the Coen Brothers. I successfully predicted plot twists, character deaths, and the overall ending of the film before it happened, and felt a bit of a slap to the face by the ending.
In short, Burn After Reading represents a sprinter running at the top of his game, only to trip and tumble, stopping just short of the finish line. While the acting and idea are nice, in the end, it just didn't do the job as far as keeping me interested and invested in terms of emotion or attention.