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| Cast and Credits |
| Cast: |
George Clooney, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Brad Pitt |
| Director: |
Joel Coen, Ethan Coen |
| Writer: |
Joel Coen, Ethan Coen |
| Rating: |
Rated R for pervasive language, some sexual content and violence. |
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Reviewed By: arvin
Rating: 8.5/10
It is hard not to love the Coen brothers. While everyone else in
Hollywood is preoccupied with pandering to what they believe film
audiences want to see (often with poor results), the Coen brothers make
films solely on their own terms. And, if the audience happens to enjoy
their finished product, so be it. The Coen brothers cater to no-one.
Fresh from the success of “No Country for Old Men”, any other directors
would have followed up with another serious drama, determined to prove
that their Oscar win was not an anomaly. But not the Coen brothers.
Typically swimming against the current, they created a comedy. In fact,
their next four slated films are comedies.
Of course, even a comedy in the world of the Coen brothers is not your
typical comedy. Their latest project, “Burn After Reading”, is a comedy
so dark that only the least deserving characters emerge unscathed as
the end credits roll. It is deliciously cynical and naughty.
“Burn After Reading” follows the antics of Linda Litzke (Frances
McDormand) and Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt), two hapless gym employees
who take possession of a disk found in the gym’s locker room containing
the memoirs of Osborne Cox (John Malkovich), a disgruntled former CIA
agent. Through a series of missteps, the two become embroiled in an
extortion plot that cannot end any way but badly.
The film also stars Tilda Swinton in the role of Katie Cox, Osborne’s
uptight wife and George Clooney in the role of Harry Pffarer, Osborne
and Katie’s slimy friend.
As a product of the Coen brothers, “Burn After Reading” is smart,
witty, and dark. As the Coen brothers accurately observed during the
film’s press conference at the Toronto International Film Festival, it
is a work comprised of characters who are “idiots and knuckleheads”.
Few of the characters are sympathetic, most make poor choices and, in
the end, all but the least deserving face the consequences. The humor
is in the irony.
In addition to their growing list of “regulars” (Frances McDormand,
George Clooney, Richard Jenkins, J.K. Simmons), the Coens have added
Brad Pitt, John Malkovich and Tilda Swinton to their growing list of
alumni. As a general rule, they write their scripts with certain actors
in mind, and “Burn After Reading” is no exception. They noted during
our interview that they write for actors who they feel will, “inhabit
the material they way it is written”.
While “Burn After Reading” features a talented cast who deliver
typically strong performances, one of the film’s surprises had to be
the comedic performance by Brad Pitt. Once again in the spirit of
playing against type, the Coens have not cast him as a handsome leading
man, but rather as a bubble-headed personal trainer who, as Pitt notes,
“makes the wrong choices...has limited experience and makes the wrong
assumptions”. It is the most original role in which Pitt has been cast
since “Snatch”, and it may very well earn him a Golden Globe nomination.
“Burn After Reading” is not a film that panders to the increasingly low
expectations that have been created by Hollywood. It is not vulgar,
crass or raunchy. It is a smart, unpredictable comedy that will leave
you feeling anything but burned after watching it.
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