Burn After Reading (2008)

A disk containing the memoirs of a CIA agent ends up in the hands of two unscrupulous gym employees who attempt to sell it.

Directors:

Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Writers:

Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

Stars:

George Clooney, Frances McDormand, Brad Pitt

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 2 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
George Clooney	...	Harry Pfarrer
Frances McDormand	...	Linda Litzke
Brad Pitt	...	Chad Feldheimer
John Malkovich	...	Osborne Cox
Tilda Swinton	...	Katie Cox
Richard Jenkins	...	Ted
Elizabeth Marvel	...	Sandy Pfarrer
David Rasche	...	CIA Officer
J.K. Simmons	...	CIA Superior (as JK Simmons)
Olek Krupa	...	Krapotkin
Michael Countryman	...	Alan
Kevin Sussman	...	Tuchman Marsh Man
J.R. Horne	...	Divorce Lawyer (as JR Horne)
Hamilton Clancy	...	Peck
Armand Schultz	...	Olson

Storyline

Osbourne Cox, a Balkan expert, is fired at the CIA, so he begins a memoir. His wife wants a divorce and expects her lover, Harry, a philandering State Department marshal, to leave his wife. A diskette falls out of a gym bag at a Georgetown fitness center. Two employees there try to turn it into cash: Linda, who wants money for elective surgery, and Chad, an amiable goof. Information on the disc leads them to Osbourne who rejects their sales pitch; then they visit the Russian embassy. To sweeten the pot, they decide they need more of Osbourne's secrets. Meanwhile, Linda's boss likes her, and Harry's wife leaves for a book tour. All roads lead to Osbourne's house.

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Plot Keywords:

gym | cia | memoir | divorce | embassy | 

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Taglines:

Intelligence is relative.

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive language, some sexual content and violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA UK France

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 September 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Quémese después de leerse

Filming Locations:

Bronx Community College - University Avenue at West 181 Street, Bronx, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$37,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£2,045,565 (UK) (17 October 2008)

Gross:

$60,338,891 (USA) (19 December 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Focus Features, StudioCanal, Relativity Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Harry goes to stay at Katie Cox's house after she broke up with Osbourne, he brings along a purple "ramp", a sex tool from the Liberator line. After they collide he leaves the house only taking the "ramp" away.

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Goofs

When Chad Feldheimer enters Coxes house the basement door is different between the outside view (door and side window) and inside view (no side window).

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Quotes

Harry Pfarrer: Go around the corner, we'll do it in the back.
Katie Cox: You're so coarse.
Harry Pfarrer: Back of the car... not the... rear-entry situation...

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Crazy Credits

There is credit for 'The Walrus'

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Connections

References Double Indemnity (1944)

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Soundtracks

"Pictures At An Exhibition Promenade"
(1874)
Written by Modest Mussorgsky
Performed by Ukraine National Symphony Orchestra
Courtesy of Naxos Of America

User Reviews

Tonight We Laugh

Norman Cousins would have loved the Coen Brothers' "Burn After Reading." The late great Saturday Review editor had treated his illness with Marx Brothers movies, having "made the joyous discovery that 10 minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anesthetic effect and would give me at least two hours of pain-free sleep."

I have never felt healthier than after 96 minutes of explosive and grateful laughter at the "Burn" screening, also marveling at the array of British-stage caliber acting from "Fargo"-invoking Frances McDormand, witchy-icy Tilda Swinton, a more-manic-than-ever John Malkovich, and a dozen major players, such as J.K. Simmons as the deadpan CIA boss and Richard Jenkins as the former Greek Orthodox priest, now running an upscale gym.

Others may lead the cast list with George Clooney and Brad Pitt, but to me, their performances were just a bit on the self-conscious side, trying too hard. At any rate, it's a great cast, and while the plot might have turned into a dud in somebody else's treatment, the Coen Brothers' writing is hilarious, their zingers deadly.

A critic, probably with bad digestion, has decried this "very black comedy set in a blanched, austere-looking Washington, D.C. — an uninspiring and uncomfortable place in which everyone betrays everyone else, and the emotional tone veers from icy politeness to spitting rage and back again." If I had a chance to think, instead of enjoying "Burn," I would have contemplated Molière and Evelyn Waugh, their comedies of manners, psychological insight, and unbridled great humor.

Yes, there are betrayals (none better than the totally unexpected one at the end of the film), and there is rage, but all contained within a glorious bubble of writing-directing-acting excellence. "Burn" grips and holds, surprises and entertains, it is a virtuoso piece.

Don't be misled by the a "action-trailer" on TV, saturating the airwaves; it says nothing of the film. Malkovich punching Pitt over a compromising CD of spook stuff is not at the heart of this - the McDormand character's pursuit of cosmetic surgery is, what with her self-examination, a lengthy session with the surgeon (Jeffrey DeMunn, in a brilliant turn), her desperate quest for a way to pay for it. Funny and going deep at the same time, "Burn" presents a series of character studies (hence the thought of Molière), in the context of mannered yet true social interactions (Waugh).

Skip descriptions of the plot, reject self-righteous denunciations of smart skepticism and charming evil, go and wallow in life-affirming laughter.