Review of Burn After Reading (2008) by Allen G — 27 Sep 2013

"Jesus, what a clusterfuck".

The humour won't be for everyone and the plot is a dud but the performances are strong and it keeps the quirkiness that you expect from the Coen brothers while also giving us something a little different than we might have expected.

I did like the humour- it wasn't outrageous and it didn't always hit the spot but there was definitely some nice moments and it reminded me of other Coen brother films at times, even if it wasn't quite as good as them.

The performances are strong though they maybe become too much likes parodies than they need to at times- I'm thinking of Clooney & Pitt here, but it's all still interesting to watch and Malkovich's strong delivery keeps the tone while providing more humour.

The plot really isn't worth getting into- the film equates to a series of interesting events tied together by an, at times, unimaginative and highly unsatisfying story that would have needed another half an hour of runtime to adequately cover its bases. As it stands though, it was a half-baked mess of sub-par ideas, none of which actually go far enough to be memorable outside of the occasional fun scene that arises from them.

It does keep you interested though which is more than I can say for some serious movies with similar topics. This film is an oddity in a, mostly charming, way but its never a particularly strong film and it's certainly a disappointment considering everyone involved. However, to say that I didn't take some enjoyment form watching this would be to lie- if you are prepared to throw the story out of the window, then you might have a good time with this one.