Insult to Coen Brothers Fans

Rating: 3/10 (16 September 2008)

I agree that this film was a mockery of not only the actors in it, but also the audience members. I think the Coen Brothers tried to make a movie quickly on the heels of No Country for Old Men and figured since No Country did so well, everyone would come and see Burn After Reading. Well, they were right, as I heard the movie topped the box office this past weekend, which is unfortunate. The performances in the movie are overall well done. At times it felt as though some of the actors broke character, but this could be a result of poor writing. It had occasional moments where the audience would burst into a quick laugh, but not enough of them. I found the plot to be confusing with many dead ends. The last quarter of the film feels very rushed. The few gory bits seemed to be simply for the sake of gore, out of place, and just for shock value. Now, the thing that bothered me (and most of the audience) the most...the boom mic kept dropping into the scenes!!! From the very beginning of the movie right until the end, it happened over and over again! I would say the boom mic was visible in at least 70% of the movie. In a hotel room, it can even be seen in the mirror beside the bed. It was so blatant and obvious that we began wondering if it was done on purpose. Everyone in the theatre picked up on it and kept pointing it out. I even heard a man behind us say "Oh my god, that is bugging me so much!". It really takes away from the movie itself and is the worst example of this happening I've ever seen. I found the ending disappointing. I won't spoil it, but it left too many loose ends untied. I am a HUGE fan of the Coen Brothers. I would never trash them without reason. O Brother Where Art Thou, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, and No Country For Old Men are some of my favourite movies of all time; but Burn After Reading does not measure up at all. I hate to say it, and i'm sure you'll all roll your eyes, but it should've been called "Burn After Watching".