Burn After Reading

2008 black comedy

Rating: 14/20 (Jen: 16/20)

Plot: Simple-minded Chad and lonely aspiring plastic surgery patient Linda, both employees at a gym, stumble upon a cdr containing the memoirs of the recently-dismissed C.I.A. agent Osbourne Cox. After he rudely turns down their request for a reward, they, thinking what they have is top-secret information, decide to blackmail him. It doesn't work out very well. Caught in the crossfire are Cox's cheating spouse and the womanizing sexaholic with whom she is sleeping. And that, Steve, is how you avoid ending a sentence in a preposition.

This is one you've got to stick with because it sort of grows on you as it builds to some typical Coen moments. Like Lebowski, this is built on well-written and oft-hilarious dialogue (also, parallel or repeated lines are used frequently), but something about it seems a little half-assed, a Coen toss-off, at times even a private joke to which few people will be hip. (There you go again, Steve.) I like the performances although McDormand and Pitt might over-do it a little. The unpredictability goes a long way, and I think the comedy works despite frequently venturing into such dark territory at times that the writing only seems to nudge up against comedy or tiptoe the line between funny and uncomfortable. But shouldn't all good comedy make people uncomfortable?