The Coens deserved a break after the epic "No Country". They took one.

Rating: 3/10 (11 November 2008)

Allstar cast. Allstar directors. Must-see film? No. And it's not even an interesting failure. What we have is a collection of forty-somethings being content to coast on their reputations, desperately looking for a fresh face to infuse some life in the proceedings. "Burn after Reading" wants to be a farce, but forgets to be funny. It pretends to tell us something about the world we live in, but does so shallowly. And on top of that, it seems to present a negative world view for the sake of it, which is borderline unethical coming from people as talented as this.
Now, if you're a Clooney/Malkovich/McDormand/Pitt/Coen-fan and must see this movie, I won't stop you. There are some enjoyable moments, and you'll occasionally laugh. I guess Pitt IS funny as sports instructor, and Malkovich is always good when he's just being John Malkovich. But in the end, "Burn After Reading" is a hollow exercise in black comedy that never bites, never connects, and wastes millions of acting talent on a throwaway script that could have used a LOT of seasoning.