ManiakJiggy This is How Movies Should Be Made

Inclubabu Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Supelice Dreadfully Boring

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

bowmanblue I think I've watched the Cohen Brothers' 'Burn After Reading' about four times now and, although I find it a weirdly enjoyable film, I still can't get my head round the beginning. I guess you'd call it a black comedy/drama, filled with mix-ups and adulterous relationships, yet the catalyst for how it all begins seems to be one of those 'blink-and-you-miss-it' kind of moments. A CIA analyst (John Malkovich) gets fired and ends up being blackmailed by a pair of gym employees (Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt), one of which is sleeping with a married man, George Clooney (who is also sleeping with John Malkovich's wife, Tilda Swinton). Confused? You may well be.It's a pretty confusing plot, not because anything's that difficult to understand - it just has a real air of confusion about it all. And, I think that's deliberate. For we, the audience, are treated like the CIA agents in the film, left to look in on this series of odd developments and wonder what the hell is going on here.Of course the film's storytelling style may not be to everyone's liking, however you have to admit that it has a stellar cast. With those names in the lead you'll be hard pushed to not enjoy their performances. Although, I have to say that (no-so-famous) Richard Jenkins stole every scene he was in and brought a real air of tragic pathos to the cast. In fact, he may well be the film's 'heart,' as, despite the other lead actors being big names, you may find it difficult to empathise with anyone besides Jenkins.Although everything ties up with these characters lives, like I said, it does it in a deliberately vague way which leaves you with question marks over your head (making you see the events through the bewildered eyes of those men supposed to know everything that's going on ever). Oh, and don't read too many spoilers - as there are definitely some moments that you won't see coming!

Anthony Iessi Though most Coen Bros. films skirt a fine line between reality and fantasy, this is the only film in their ranks that is so inexplicable and stupid, it must be a true American crime story. Burn After Reading details what happens when you give absolute idiots classified information. The Coens needed the perfect oddball cast, and they got one. John Malkovich is easily the standout favorite of mine. A disgruntled ex-CIA agent with the dirty mouth of a truck driver and a lethal temper. He's phenomenal. Frances McDormand shines here as a middle-of-the-road dolt who only cares about plastic surgery. George Clooney is just George Clooney, but I got a kick out of his patented sex- machine and his priceless reaction to finding a stranger in his home. Brad Pitt, as the over-the-top gymnast, is the only one that sort of left me cold. Nearly anyone other than Brad Pitt could've played that character. A seasoned comedian, no doubt, would've knocked it out of the park. Is this a highlight of the Coens? Not exactly, but it's entertaining as hell.

Lance T. This gets a two because of the actors. NOT the movie, not the script, and certainly NOT for the "humor".To me, this was not very funny at all. I've read some reviews and they glowed about how it was hilarious. Really? At which point? Other than the scene where the lady who works at a gym is talking to the doctor about surgeries, it's not that funny.At the end of the movie there is a question asked. Believe me, you'll be asking yourself the same question for awhile! I hate movies with run-on plots that seem to twist in the wind and you feel like asking yourself, "why do I care?" or "why am I/did I watch this??" The other movie similar to this was "Hail Caesar!" Worthless.

Filipe Neto This movie seems to make fun of the secret world of spies, their agencies and secrets. The entire film revolves around an American spy who, after being removed from office, decides to write a memoir. But the CD-ROM where he put its sketch went to the hands of a gym employee who, with the help of an idiot coworker, tries to blackmail him. Then, the movie goes on to create a huge confusion about something so minor that, in the end, even the CIA are amazed at the situation.The biggest problem I've felt here is the fact that the film handles everything very lightly, as if none of it were really important. That fits the movie, but it creates a huge barrier between the audience and the film, as if we were watching a movie that doesn't want to catch our attention. This gets even worse if we consider that no character is capable of reaching the public. There are only people, much like any human being we meet outside but we do not have the interest to know, and for whom we do not look more than once. The result is to become invariably boring, sometimes very difficult to keep up with. In the end, except for the action scenes, we don't care about the movie anymore.The best of this film are the performances of the main actors, usually very good but unable to truly shine in a film that did not allow that (they are good actors but they don't perform miracles). Clooney was very good, Pitt was convincing in the idiot character they gave him, Frances McDormand was pleasantly futile (something that her character demanded) and John Malkovich was OK, in a character without major difficulties but Which also never allowed him to have much space to show talent.