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Burn After Reading (2008) 7.0
Ratings:
7.0/10 from 169,774 users
Metascore: 63/100
Reviews: 518 user | 321 critic | 37 from Metacritic.com A disk containing the memoirs of a CIA agent ends up in the hands of two unscrupulous gym employees who attempt to sell it. |
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Title: Burn After Reading (2008)
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| George Clooney | ... | ||
| Frances McDormand | ... | ||
| Brad Pitt | ... | ||
| John Malkovich | ... | ||
| Tilda Swinton | ... | ||
| Richard Jenkins | ... | ||
| Elizabeth Marvel | ... | ||
| David Rasche | ... | ||
| J.K. Simmons | ... |
CIA Superior
(as JK Simmons)
|
|
| Olek Krupa | ... | ||
| Michael Countryman | ... | ||
| Kevin Sussman | ... | ||
 |
J.R. Horne | ... |
Divorce Lawyer
(as JR Horne)
|
| Hamilton Clancy | ... | ||
| Armand Schultz | ... | ||
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Plot Synopsis
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. Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>
Taglines:
A high stakes love life and Jewel CIA shelter. See more »Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
Rated R for pervasive language, some sexual content and violence | See all certifications »Parents Guide:
View content advisory »
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See full technical specs »
Details
Language:
EnglishRelease Date:
12 September 2008 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Quémese después de leerse See more »Filming Locations:
Bronx Community College - University Avenue at West 181 Street, Bronx, New York City, New York, USA See more »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
Show detailed
company contact information
on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Color:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
Edit
(2008)
Written by Taryn Murphy and Chris Landon
Performed by Taryn Murphy
Courtesy of Getty Images
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
When Harry's wife is on the Seattle show, the show's host interrupts her, saying that "Dermot Mulrooney" is coming on after the commercial break. Dermot Mulroney is the actor that plays "Star of 'Coming Up Daisy'" in the actual film. See more »Goofs
After Osbourne has quit the agency, we see him on a sailboat motoring on the water. The scene changes to a closeup with his father and the sailboat is suddenly not moving through the water. See more »Crazy Credits
As usual, the Coen Brothers edited this film under the pseudonym Roderick Jaynes See more »Soundtracks
"On The Floor"(2008)
Written by Taryn Murphy and Chris Landon
Performed by Taryn Murphy
Courtesy of Getty Images
See more »
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.