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If I spent hours documenting all the crazy dreams I have, I think I might just have come up with something similar to this film. Larry King commented on this film and said he thought it was a comedic masterpiece which kind of makes sense now to me. I would say that I thought the film was incredibly entertaining to see all these famous people acting like deranged dolts with dung for brains. It's a good movie to wake up to when you really don't want to drink your morning coffee to get your brain to wake up. It's like this, John Malkovich plays this CIA operative who gets canned. He tells his wife but she doesn't really care anything about him, since both of them are so wrapped up in their own lives. Tilda Swinton plays his flaky wife who turns out to be having an extramarital fling with George Clooney who turns out to be a treasury agent who has never discharged his gun in duty but seems unable to keep himself from obsessively cheating on his wife. Frances McDormond plays this aging woman who wishes to undergo several expensive plastic surgery procedures, but her insurance she has at her job at Hardbodies Fitness Center will not cover it. Her dingy co-worker Brad Pitt find a secret disc (owned by John Malkovich) at the club and try and sell it back to him. The disc turns out to be just old memoirs and turns down their proposal to sell it back to him. Frances McDormand's character foolishly goes to the Russian Embassy and tries to sell it to them, but they find out as well that it is nothing important. I'd continue telling you all about the twisted subplot and nuances of total stupidity and zaniness, but I might disappoint you and let you down. This film was not as much a comedy as it turns out, but really a dark feature that crosses over into delirium. I think that the Cohen Brothers were trying to make a satirical film that showcases real life as seen by many. It would have been much better for me if I had known this sooner in the film, but it turn out alright for me anyway. I was a bit disappointed in the ending. I'LL GIVE THIS FILM A 3/5 FOR TRYING TO COME UP WITH SOMETHING NEW, BUT I THINK I'D BE BETTER OFF STICKING TO MY DREAMS. THEY MAKE MUCH BETTER SENSE TO ME. IF YOU LIKE MY REVIEWS, PLEASE DON'T HESITATE TO LET ME KNOW BY VOTING. THANKS!Read full review
Very typical of the Coen brothers, who also did 'the Big Lebowski' and 'Fargo.' The movie is all over the place and goes to show that fact is always stranger than fiction. In this film an ex-CIA guy decides to write his memoirs. At the same time his wife is secretly getting ready to divorce him and try for all his $$$. She downloads all his info off his computer onto a disc, including his memoirs, and hands it off to her lawyer. The lawyer gives the disc to a secretary, who is supposed to take it home and copy and print it, but who instead loses it when she stops off for a workout at a gym before going home. Gym workers Brad Pitt and Frances McDormand find the disc and misinterpret the novel portions as sensitive CIA secret info. They try to use it to blackmail the ex-CIA guy, who isn't interested, so they take it to the Russian embassy, who also aren't interested. Brad and Frances are convinced tho that they have something super secret and worth a lot of money; at least the $40000 Frances needs for her cosmetic surgeries so she'll be more viable and successful at on-line dating. Enter George Clooney, who is cheating on his wife with the ex-CIA guy's wife, and who at the same time doesn't know his own wife is cheating on him. He meets up with Frances via the above mentioned online dating, because he's also cheating on the woman (the ex-CIA guy's wife) he's been cheating with. He finds out Frances and Brad have the disc. Also enter J.K. Simmons, who as the CIA director has to try and process all this, and see if there really is anything relevant or sensitive on the ex-CIA guys' disc. Zany, right? You can't make this stuff up! No spoiler alerts here, but by movie's end several people get shot, or deported, or put in prison, etc. The ex-CIA guy himself goes looney and winds up chasing a guy down the street with an axe, while in his undies and a bath robe. Lot of use of the F-word in this movie, but no nudity or sex scenes. If you liked 'Fargo' you'll probably like 'Burn After Reading' too.Read full review
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With Clooney and Pitt being in the film, and after reading all of the Reviews, we were very curious to see this movie! After watching it, it is definitely the off-beat film many claim it to be. Clooney and Pitt played some very odd parts in this film, as this isnt the typical acting characteristics of them. This film is the third entry put out by the Coen Brothers. We were unfamiliar with who exactly the Coen Bros were until reading the Reviews. Other films they produced were Blood Simple and Fargo. Burn After Reading is very similar to the movie Fargo, but it was much less enjoyable(Fargo was a GOOD movie). Burn After Reading is definitely off-beat and odd. With being similar to Fargo, all of the characters get everything twisted around in the film and become involved in situations that they shouldnt be involved with, simply by misunderstanding what is going on. Burn After Reading offers a good sized cast of well-known actors, and held our attention, but was not enjoyable, especially with the ending being so abrupt and unexpected. We didnt find the so-called dark and disturbing scenes to be as bad as many say they are(although, it depends on what you consider disturbing). The scenes were either a little gory or sexual-device related. Definitely an off-the-wall film. You really have to like films by the Coen Bros. Our Overall Rating: 4 out of 10 (below average) Rent It or Buy It? Rent It first to see what you think! If you found this Review HELPFUL, please let us know and CLICK YES below. By Voting for the helpfulness of this Review, this allows us to continue posting Reviews on the new movies as they come out. We write all of our Movie Reviews with YOU, the movie viewer in mind, to help you make the best decisions when renting or buying DVD's. We have over 220 other Reviews right here on eBay for you to browse at your convenience! DONT FORGET TO VOTE BELOW! Thank You for using eBay's Reviews & GuidesRead full review
This movie shows the darkly amusing stupidities that can be commited by crazy people, be it by omission or commission. These actors are very good managing their roles as certifiably insane people. I could just die laughing with George Clooney being finicky with the canapes. Tilda Swinton was masterly as the odious wife, so was John Malkovich portraying a person paralyzed with his complicated situation...and so were all the others, to include the employee who saw the maguffin "lying on the floor". A memorable dark comedy of crazy loonies.
Did anyone else know that this is the second Lemony Snicket film?... Everything that could go wrong does, in this (I'm going to now say "typical") Coen Brothers piece. Much like their other films (Fargo, No Country For Old Men, etc) the brothers choose to stray from the regular storytelling rules and create something their own. This I can admire. However when It's all said and done, does it really work? Is It long lasting? I loved some of the scenes and I loved some of the dialogue. But in the long run It just doesn't mesh well. The cast is super (I can't get enough of a pissed off Malkovitch) but you get the feeling that they weren't used to the best of their ability. And then the rather anti-climactic (again, typical Coen bro) ending. Put it all together and you find the movie to be subpar. A pity really.Read full review
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