"Burn After Reading" Movie review

Written by Sean McBride

Thursday, 11 September 2008

“Burn After Reading” Focus Features Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen Starring George Clooney, Frances McDormand, Brad Pitt, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, Richard Jenkins, Elizabeth Marvel and J.K. Simmons. Rated R   3 Stars         I never quite know what to expect from a Coen Brothers film. From “Fargo” to “Raising Arizona,” “The Big Lebowski” and “No Country for Old Men,” these guys make everything from delightfully dark screwball comedies to painfully nihilistic masterpieces. The one common thread is the filmmakers’ ability to tell an entertaining story. I may not always love their films, but I can generally appreciate the craftsmanship that makes their movies so consistently appealing. The latest Coen Brothers film is “Burn After Reading,” and while it’s a bit of an artistic disappointment following hot on the heels of “No Country for Old Men,” it’s still a whole lot of kicky fun. This is one of those films where it’s apparent that the cast had a grand old time making the movie, and their enthusiasm is infectious. We begin this very convoluted tale with John Malkovich, playing a disgruntled CIA Agent who is writing a tell-all book that he thinks will rock the Agency. The problem is that he misplaces his memoir. Francis McDormand plays a gym manager who finds the incriminating information in the locker room. Hoping to raise money for plastic surgery, she decides to blackmail the agent. Brad Pitt plays her gym-rat assistant who blithely joins in the adventure.  Throw in George Clooney as a lusty US Marshall who spends most of his time jumping from bed to bed, romancing any woman who breathes, including the lonely gym manager and the former CIA Agent’s wife. And if that’s not enough, J.K Simmons and David Rasche play a pair of nonplussed CIA honchos who watch everything unfold from afar. They tell their operatives to report back when the events of the film make sense. The joke is of course that nothing in “Burn After Reading” will ever make sense.  This is basically a carnival of fools, where a cast of appealing characters stumble their way through an insane spy caper. It’s a lot of fun to watch, but it’s not going to hold up as one of the Coen Brothers major works. The same hold true for the cast, who bring plenty of movie-star appeal to the movie, but these performances aren’t going to add to their careers either. The bottom line is that much like the film’s title suggests, “Burn After Reading” is an engaging film, but shouldn’t linger long in your mind once you’ve left the theater. Movie reviews by Sean, “The Movie Guy,” are published Wednesdays and Fridays in “The Port Arthur News.” He can be found weekly on KAVU-TV, KFDM-TV, and KVIC Radio. Additional reviews can be found at www.rottentomatoes.com, www.panews.com or at www.myvictoriaonline.com. Sean welcomes your comments via email at smcbride@kavutv.com.