Burn After Reading

Plot synopsis:
Faced with a demotion at work due to a drinking problem, Osbourne Cox angrily quits his job as a CIA analyst and decides to write a memoir. When his pediatrician wife Katie finds out, she sees it as an opportunity to file for divorce and continue her affair with Harry Pfarrer, a deputy U.S. Marshal. She copies her husband's financial records and other files, including the draft memoir, and gives them to her lawyer.
The lawyer's assistant copies the files onto a CD, which she accidentally leaves on the locker room floor of Hardbodies, a local gym. The disc falls into the hands of dim-witted personal trainer Chad Feldheimer and his co-worker Linda Litzke, who mistakenly believe it to contain sensitive government information. They plan to return the disc for a reward, with Linda hoping to use the money to pay for cosmetic surgery. After a phone call and subsequent meeting with Osbourne provoke a furious reaction, Chad and Linda attempt to sell the disc to the Russian embassy.
Osbourne's increasingly temperamental and erratic behavior prompts Katie to change the locks on their house and invite Harry to move in. A womanizer, Harry is coincidentally also seeing Linda. Linda persuades Chad to sneak into the Coxes' home to get more files from their computer. Harry finds Chad hiding in a wardrobe and shoots him.
Two days later at the CIA headquarters, Palmer Smith, Osbourne's former superior, and his director learn that information from Osbourne has been given to the Russian Embassy. They are perplexed: the material delivered to the Russians is of no importance, and the apparent motive of all the involved parties is unknown.
Harry argues with Katie and leaves the house. On his way out, he spots a man who has been trailing him for the past several days. Harry tackles the man and finds out that he is a private detective hired by his wife "Sandy" to gather evidence to divorce him. Separately, it is revealed that Sandy is having an affair of her own. Harry is devastated and goes to see an agitated Linda, who confides to Harry that Chad is missing. Harry agrees to help find Chad.
Linda returns to the Russian embassy to find Chad. The Russians have dismissed the CD contents as "drivel", and escort Linda off the embassy grounds. She turns to Ted Treffon, the kindhearted manager of Hardbodies, who has unrequited feelings for her. Against his better judgement, Ted agrees to go to the Coxes' home to search Osbourne's computer.
Harry and Linda meet in a park where Harry sees a man looking at Linda and asks her if she knows him. Linda denies knowing the man, which makes Harry suspicious. When Linda reveals the address where Chad disappeared, Harry realizes that Chad is the man he shot. Convinced that Linda is a spy and that everyone in the park is surveilling him, he panics and flees.
Osbourne becomes unhinged when he finds out that Katie has emptied his bank accounts and decides to break into the house to get his alcohol and personal belongings. Finding Ted in the basement, Osbourne shoots Ted and chases him wielding a hatchet. A CIA agent intervenes by shooting Osbourne, leaving him in a coma.
At CIA headquarters a few days later, Palmer and his director try to understand what happened. Harry has been detained trying to flee to Venezuela, as that country has no extradition treaty with the US and therefore will not send him back. The director instructs Palmer to send him to Venezuela. The director and Palmer agree to leave Osbourne comatose and deal with him if he ever wakes. The final loose end is Linda, who is promising to keep quiet if they will pay for her plastic surgery, which the director agrees to. They conclude that there appears to be no lesson for the agency to learn from the events. "I guess we learned not to do it again," the director says, despite not knowing exactly what they did, and closes the file.

Tags: comedy, dark, murder, violence, satire, entertaining

Review:
The movie may not start brilliantly (not that it isn't good even early on), but once the Coens start firing on all cylinders they never stop, and the dream cast certainly doesn't either (Brad Pitt has a smaller role than most cast members here, but he is absolutely brilliant in the role), showing tremendous comic skill that few would have guessed most of them had.
But the movie is very funny and while the rest of Hollywood seems to have lost there way, the Coen brothers continue to put out intelligent, entertaining and thought provoking material..
What better place to set such a story than Washington, DC?The story involves a demoted government worker (John Malkovich) who finds himself the target of an extortion scheme by two gym workers, riotously played by Frances McDormand (a would-be gym bunny if only she could afford some plastic surgery) and Brad Pitt (a high-energy, arm-thrusting, hip-shaking fitness trainer-cum-"good Samaritan" who lands himself way in over his head).
This film will not be to everyones taste, and I wholly understand the polarised responses.A star studded cast enjoy a knowing, wordy script, where dialogue counts, a Coen brothers trademark.However not very much happens, and the narrative is disjointed, so the pace of the story is very staccato.But once again the result is something very wide of the Hollywood mainstream and is all the more satisfying for it.A 95 minute running time,, and several separate but interwoven plots, mean that screen time for individual actors is limited.
It was so surprising when I first saw it, that at first, I didn't even know what it was.Once again, the Coens have created wonderful characters, including Clooney, who is a womanizer and paranoid that people are following him, and McDormand, who just wants plastic surgery in order to look better.
Also, there's John Malkovich as Osbourne Cox, who "doesn't have a drinking problem," and maybe the best in the movie, Brad Pitt as Chad, a clueless gym employee who is pushed along by McDormand.The only character that isn't up to par with the rest is Tilda Swinton's character of Katie Cox, Osbourne's wife.
However, she may not be funny, but she does play the character well.The writing is brilliant and the Coens weave the story in such a way that it reminds me of their previous movie, The Big Lebowski.
Norman Cousins would have loved the Coen Brothers' "Burn After Reading." The late great Saturday Review editor had treated his illness with Marx Brothers movies, having "made the joyous discovery that 10 minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anesthetic effect and would give me at least two hours of pain-free sleep."I have never felt healthier than after 96 minutes of explosive and grateful laughter at the "Burn" screening, also marveling at the array of British-stage caliber acting from "Fargo"-invoking Frances McDormand, witchy-icy Tilda Swinton, a more-manic-than-ever John Malkovich, and a dozen major players, such as J.K. Simmons as the deadpan CIA boss and Richard Jenkins as the former Greek Orthodox priest, now running an upscale gym.Others may lead the cast list with George Clooney and Brad Pitt, but to me, their performances were just a bit on the self-conscious side, trying too hard.
At any rate, it's a great cast, and while the plot might have turned into a dud in somebody else's treatment, the Coen Brothers' writing is hilarious, their zingers deadly.A critic, probably with bad digestion, has decried this "very black comedy set in a blanched, austere-looking Washington, D.C.
 an uninspiring and uncomfortable place in which everyone betrays everyone else, and the emotional tone veers from icy politeness to spitting rage and back again." If I had a chance to think, instead of enjoying "Burn," I would have contemplated Molière and Evelyn Waugh, their comedies of manners, psychological insight, and unbridled great humor.Yes, there are betrayals (none better than the totally unexpected one at the end of the film), and there is rage, but all contained within a glorious bubble of writing-directing-acting excellence.
After their Oscar winning turn last year, The Coen Brothers are back with the new film, this time comedy/crime/spy story which is very funny, very dark, quite angry, at times surreal, always ironic and to put it simply a must see for any Coens' fan which means a fan of great movie making.
How could I not with the dream cast that include John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, George Clooney, Francis McDormand, and very funny and deliciously clueless, Brad Pitt, and many familiar faces in the small cameos.
Tilda Swinton as an arrogant icy cold professional woman, and Frances MacDormand as Linda who would stop at nothing in order to "re-invent herself", both added to the film's multiple delights.This time, Coens' usual collaborator, Roger Deakins was not director of photography, instead, Emmanuel Lubezki, four times Oscar Nominee (for Children of Men, The New World, Sleepy Hollow, and A Little Princess) took care of camera-work.
But unlike their second film, Raising Arizona, the Coens deliver Burn After Reading with a kind of newfound cynicism attached to it; it's funny, but it's also surprisingly dark and sad, and even poignant to some extent.Based on the Coen's first wholly original screenplay since 2001's The Man Who Wasn't There, Burn After Reading features a plethora of classic Coen staples: repetitive (and brilliant) dialogue employing a strange and almost poetic use of curse words, a multifaceted plot featuring slightly dim-witted characters in way over their heads, blacker-than-the-night comedy, over-the-top performances from a pool of actors featuring recurring collaborators and newcomers to the Coen clan alike, and to tie it all off, a lesson-learning conclusion in which nothing ends up being learned at all.
Like all of their films, Burn After Reading is a carefully calculated dance in which every pause, every stutter and every camera move is planned in advance.What I loved most about the movie is trying to get into the Coen's heads and see what they think is funny.
Many directors are familiar with the colourful phrases, some more than others, but only the Coens know how to make various S- and F- words utterly sidesplitting.Blessed with one of the more impressive ensemble casts of any film this year, Burn After Reading inevitably features a plethora of good acting.
Tilda Swinton and the ever-great Richard Jenkins are a lot subtler than their higher-billed co-stars, and Brad Pitt delivers the only truly one-hundred percent cartoon performance in the film; thought despite its emptiness it's also the most enjoyable and completely hilarious.J.K. Simmons I reserve for last; he only appears in two scenes in the film, but they are undoubtedly and by far the funniest and most successful scenes of the film.
This film is packed with superb performances and extreme character juxtapositions: Clooney's used car salesman approach to the fairer sex, Frances McDormand's desperation for cosmetic surgery that leads her into the most unlikely of alliances with the gawky idiot played hilariously by Brad Pitt, Tilda Swinton's studied coldness and straightness and her manic, dangerously disappointed husband played by a masterful and creepy John Malkovich...the plot, as with many Coen brothers films, is almost irrelevant: it's the set-pieces and the way that things happen that grabs you.
For most of the rest of the time, you feel like you are watching over paid if not over qualified Hollywood Movie Stars (and yes, Frances McDormand, you are one.
While their film does start a little slow, if not too much so, their plot soon requires all of the actors- some Coen regulars big and small, some new- to act stupid, angry, confused, wacko, desperate, going nuts, and generally in characteristic form of a Coen comedy, which is far and beyond a distinct step above a lot of other zany/dark comedies.
And yet, this is just a small part of the screwy-relationships angle of the picture that unfolds, which includes divorce and not-secret longing and even a home-built chair with a springy dildo.The Coens main concern here, as with Big Lebowski, is just tossing in a plot thread that is about as true a MacGuffin as possible: Malkovich's ex-analyst character starts up his memoirs, and they somehow get on a disc and wind up in the gym locker room at the Hardbodies fitness center, and McDormand and Brad Pitt's dim-witted "good Samaritan" character devise a scheme to muck with Malkovich's documents.
And without spoiling anything, mayhem and violence ensue.That last line could also apply to the Coens previous No Country for Old Men, only this time (and not-too-oddly enough this was written off-and-on while that written), in Burn After Reading we soak up all of this with a kind of permission-slip to laugh our heads off.
Not saying he or others did not act well, in fact all actors did a great job in performing and carrying out their roles but this wasn't a comedy nor a movie worth script.I got so disappointed that i was struggling to sit and watch till the end of this movie..please somebody explain to me the high rating and those extremely over positive comments.cheers.
I think I'm not alone in saying my anticipation of the movie was great - the Coens are normally reliably interesting, I loved their previous Oscar-winning affair, and there are few actors more watchable than Clooney, particularly alongside the ensemble gathered here.
I was expecting great things from this movie - my appetite had been whetted by an amusing trailer (which sadly contained all the funny moments which the movie had to offer), by the presence of the likes of Bard Pitt, George Clooney and John Malkovich, and by the fact that the film as directed by the Coen brothers whose most recent film, No Country for Old Men, I thought was excellent.
Although the characters are well written the plot is slow to start and although picking up speed and becoming more engaging in the middle it fizzles out at the end.I reckon just about everyone has realised by now that the Coen brothers make some great films but sadly I didn't find this one any good.
The film is very funny and entertaining; like previous Coen Brother's comedies it is filled with dark humor and quirky, yet likable characters.
If you asked what the film was about, I'd have to say nothing really; it's really just a movie about a bunch of idiots who are somehow connected in a plot that turns out to mean absolutely nothing, but that's what makes it all the more hilarious.The Coen Brothers did a superb job directing, and their screenplay was as tight as always.
Of course it is the acting from this stellar A-List cast that makes the film such a joy to watch, in particular the performances by Brad Pitt and Frances McDormand steal the show in practically each scene that they're in.
Add to the mix Osborne Cox's wife Katie (Tilda Swinton) wanting a divorce from her husband so that she can move on to her current lover Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney) and you have in this comedic mixing bowl enough nuts and bolts to blow the roof off of any comparable perfect comedy/crime caper.We have watched this film several times now and we will be watching it a few more times whenever we want a good laugh.
Is it just me or do movies just not make sense anymoreWhat did the scene of the T.V room with Elizabeth Marvel - Sandy Pfarrer have anything to do with the movie????Apart from the confusing script and over obvious jokes and clique's I felt for the actors in this farce of mass entertainment madness as they performed to the highest standard and did their best to accommodate yet and another junker straight out Hollywood's trash binBest and only good line in movie"You tell Dr Cox I have the new keys!" (John Malkovich - Osbourne Cox)Great actors Good Budget Poor ScriptF-" I cannot stand idly by while bad films go un-reviewed " Weightgain4000.
How George Clooney, Brad Pitt, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand could be rooked into being this movie is beyond me.
Then she reminded me that the Coen Brothers also directed "No Country For Old Men" which i can honestly say is one of the worst movies of all time.
4 of us watched it, and i was the only one awake at the end, wishing i wasn't.What annoys me about "Burn After Reading" is that it is supposed to be a comedy, but i seriously can't remember so much as smiling at any point in the film.
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.
I think the funniest thing about this movie is the comments being left to confirm it as 'such great work' or comments where people are simply gushing that it's definitely 'one of the coen brothers' best??
The only thing comical about it was laughing about how utterly boring it was whilst we walked out of the cinema around an hour into it (and I'm amazed we gave it that long).For those lovely people leaving such insulting comments on threads about how some people may be too stupid to catch on to the comedic moments - I'm reassured that those commenting are clearly biased fans of the Coen brothers, considering that we were followed out of the cinema by plenty of people equally as p**sed off about the fact that they'd spent good money to waste time watching a film trying to be something it clearly isn't (a comedy)..
This film and 'The Big Labowski' together are easily some of the worst comedies I have ever seen in my life, both films had showed no end of complete pointlessness and stupidity blown out of all proportion, with ridiculous story lines, though I am less sure about 'The Big Lebowski' because I didn't actually finish, and having sat through another film (and fighting to stay awake through some parts of it) by the same writer I am not sure that I want to.Now, back to the film, I will try to analyse without giving away too much of the storyline.
If you are looking to have a good laugh, well, you are much better off looking elsewhere, whilst there were the odd funny moments it is far from being funny enough to keep you entertained, which isn't helped by the severe lack of a realistic storyline, it becomes more believable as the story evolve, with people feeling the pressure and starting to break down, still it was like Alice went to wonderland without following the rabbit, it doesn't connect and thus makes no sense.
A recent film that I had seen, 'Ghost Town' was far funnier.It lacked any big idea, you can argue that it's about human nature but the film's portrays humanity in such a way that it assumes all men (and women)are evil/selfish, an overly pessimistic view of life, I am surprised how the Coens brother haven't yet committed suicide if that was what they thought of the world.What surprised me even more, though, was the long list of brilliant actors, truth be told they did a tremendous job making the funny moments...
Seeing Brad Pitt and George Clooney make funny faces can only carry a movie so far.
Violence was overused as well, while I usually enjoy dark comedies I didn't find that the death/destruction/mayhem added to the story in any real way and didn't lead to any interesting or funny situations.I wouldn't recommend this film, even to someone who likes to watch bad movies.
The plot is choppy, the acting is way off from good performance levels, and if we had not had hopes the film would get better as we watched, we would have gotten up and left the theater 15 minutes after the start.
Based on film advertisements that we had seen we were expecting a great movie with plenty of comedy and some good acting.
Such as Frances MacDormand's pursuit of cosmetic surgery.The Coens, riding on the success of No Country for Old Men, seem to have written this script in a matter of hours, called all of their friends who want to win awards, and filmed this mess.This movie feels like a parody of No Country for Old Men that didn't have a good understanding of what that movie was about.I know I'm in the minority here, but this movie is a throw-away that will inevitably end up earning some sort of "classic" status along side of that Wes Anderson garbage polluting people's indie-rock obsessed minds.I hate that this thing was made.
The script should have been burned after being read the first time.This was a pointless waste of time.I no longer consider a Coen brother movie a "sure thing".Really.
As to the comedy, the only way this film is funny, it that there is amusement to be found in watching the very famous (Cloony, McDormand, Malcovich, Swinton and Pitt) playing roles as idiots.
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.
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.
It's very disappointing when you go to see a movie from Cohen Brothers, with such a cast (Brad Pitt, George Clooney, John Malkovich) and it still is a bad movie.
I sat through the movie expecting the Coen Brothers to create magic as the plot proceeds (like they usually do) but that moment never seemed to come at all.
Not a movie to watch if you expect a lot from the Coen brothers.