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?

6 comments:

  1. yeah, 14 sounds right, need to see it again. i think it may grow. like a chia pet.

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  2. Ch-ch-ch-chia. It may. I didn't like 'TBL' as much the first time I saw it and it became the greatest movie ever made, so who knows.

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  3. Maybe I expect too much from the Coen's these days. You are right about it feeling like it's not their best effort. It's something these guys could do in their sleep. The characters in and of themselves are quirky and mostly fun (really liked Pitt, Malkovich and Clooney), but the spirit and plot of the film are so mean and cynical that it shot past funny and became a little depressing. I did really like the CIA briefings, but it proved the only way to really get much out of this is from a detached point of view. A 13.

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  4. Ah, but 'No Country for Old Men' was at least JUST AS cynical and more than likely more so. Problem is this is a comedy but there were far too many times when it just didn't feel like one. Of course, I appreciate the comedic moments in 'No Country for Old Men' more than a lot of people would and I'm sick enough to think most of this one was funny too.

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  5. you are sick, comedy moments in No Country?

    (i'm being drunk, but i don't remeber them they0) were'nt in the book bad punctuation acceptable

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  6. Yeah, there were darkly humorous moments in 'NCfOM,' most obviously whenever that dude's hair was on the screen.

    You've always accepted my numerous flaws as a human being, so I can accept a little bad punctuation whether you're "being drunk" or not...

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