Should have been titled "Burn Before Seeing"...

Rating: 3/10 (19 September 2008)

While I am a fan of the Coen Brothers films and I do admire their talent for making movies but I have to say that their latest installment, "Burn After Reading", is simply a train wreck from start to finish. While the concept of the film is somewhat original and previews show promise, it really, and I mean really, fails to deliver. Even the actors didn't seem to bring their A-game to this hodge-podge of a film. Most of the characters in the film weren't even likable nor was there any chemistry what so ever. The only real interesting character was Brad Pitt, who, ironically, becomes a perfect example of the theme the film sets for itself: stupidity! The film itself starts to dive into a bunch of story lines creating suspense and tension and eventually it all just flat lines in the end. Like their other films, it follows the Coen Brothers formulas; cheating spouses, backstabbing, money trail, bloodshed, and of course their dark sense of humor.
With that being said, I'm not the only one who felt this film left a fowl after taste. My family, whom I saw it with, hated the film more than I did! My mom even said, "I would rather watch the "Saw" movies(which she greatly despises) than that movie". I'm trying really hard to think of a good outcome from all of this but nothing is really formulating which should be a really big RED FLAG! All I can do is pray this film gets the coup de grace it deserves which I guess in some terms is the only nice thing I can say. Just check out some of their better films like "Raising Arizona", "Fargo", "O' Brother Art Thou?" and "No Country for Old Men". Seriously listen to the title above, you'll be glad you did.