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Picture
Two gym employees happen upon a disk containing CIA information and
​try to sell it to the highest bidder, but everything goes terribly wrong.
COMEDY

Burn After Reading (2008)

Written and Directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

Starring George Clooney, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Brad Pitt, Tilda Swinton, Richard Jenkins, Elizabeth Marvel,
​J.K. Simmons, David Rasche

Connor Eyzaguirre
August 16, 2019
8/10
I personally think the Coens' best work is their comedy, and Burn After Reading is downright hilarious. It has an all-star cast of Coen players, as well as some first-timers (for them, at least), and features one of their strangest stories that amounts to virtually nothing learned, nothing accomplished, and it fits so perfectly. This is what happens when idiots try to commit blackmail, and it's pure gold at times. There's a couple unnecessary subplots, but that's to be expected with the Coen Brothers. Not everything makes sense, but the mesh is almost flawless. And of course, they continue to use their tried and true template of "morons commit crime, but everything goes horribly wrong." Hasn't failed them yet.

This film features my favorite John Malkovich performance in Osbourne Cox, a hot-headed CIA analyst who recently quit after getting demoted and is now trying to write his memoirs. His wife is cheating on him but he doesn't care, and two gym employees get hold of his financial records, believing it to be state secrets. When they try to blackmail him, everything goes to shit faster than you can say Brainerd. On the other side, you have Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney in another fantastic performance), a womanizer who gets increasingly more paranoid. Also, you have Brad Pitt as a moronic gym trainer and Frances McDormand as a determined but naive gym employee who sets this whole thing in motion. It's such a bizarre film, but any Coen fan will find themselves drawn in like always.

Burn After Reading is a film that benefits from multiple viewings because it's so wacky that you have to do a double take. The cast is brilliant as always, and the Coen Brothers rarely disappoint (except for Hail, Caesar! but that's for later). I enjoyed this film and I don't think it should be one of their lesser known ones. It's funny enough to deserve a real following.

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Filmgazm is made by movie lovers for movie lovers. We believe in the magic of film and we aim celebrate films of all genres and throughout cinema history, regardless of who's behind the camera or who financed it. We at Filmgazm believe that every film deserves to be reviewed on its own merits and that's what we are here to do. Enjoy the show!
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  • Home
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    • THE SNEAK PREVIEW
  • Articles
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    • CONNOR'S HALL
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    • JOSH'S HALL
  • Trailers
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