Read After Burning

Rating: Null/10 (17 October 2009)

The Coen brothers are back with another hilarious and original movie, 'Burn After Reading'. This movie has a similar sense of humour to 'Fargo' and 'The Big Lebowski' rather than 'Intolerable Cruelty'. Like their other movies, the characters are quirky, they find themselves in 'ordinary' circumstances with unusual consequences as paths cross and one of them has their way. With a cast like John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, George Clooney, J.K. Simmons, Brad Pitt, Richard Jenkins and Frances McDormand, 'Burn After Reading' certainly does not fall short in the acting department but it is Frances McDormand who steals the show as fitness instructor who is obsessed with cosmetic surgery (in order to 'reinvent' herself). The opening sequence hints a spy thriller but once we land into the world of the absurd characters. Pretty much all the lead characters are obsessed with their image. The dialogues are laugh-out-loud funny. The humour is very dry (it might not appeal to all). The plot follows a steady pace and closes with a solid end. Many seem to object with the ending but I couldn't think of anything better. Secret actions have disastrous consequences.