"Burn After Reading" - REVIEW

Though is sounds completely bizarre, I can best sum up "Burn After Reading" in two different sentences: 1) A pitch black Looney Toons cartoon, or 2) A R-Rated version of Napoleon Dynamite. Let's start with the first sentence. The set up alone is that of a Looney Toons cartoon, in that all the main players are involved in the quest for a series of explosive documents which don't really exist, and which are interpreted as being different things to different people. When CIA analyst Osbourne Cox (John Malkovich, flipping out in almost every scene) is demoted, he instead quits, and decides to write an explosive memoir about life at the CIA (to which his wife Kate --Tilda Swinton-- responds with a hysterically condescending 'ha'). Meanwhile, Mrs. Cox is having an affair with Treasury Dept official Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney), and is thinking of leaving her husband, prompting her to secretly review her and Osbourne's finances. This inevitably leads to the plot's catalyst: a disc of financial files and numbers that accidentally gets left in the locker room at Hardbodies Gym, where it is found by a janitor, and then taken to employee Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt, who finally gets a chance to prove he can be good at comedy) and his friend Linda Litzke. From there, the two scheme to blackmail Cox in order to get a big sum of money, which in turn will help pay for the extensive cosmetic surgeries Linda is interested in. If you think the 20-30 minute set up is outlanding, wait until you see where this thing goes once it begins its downward spiral. When I say that this is a pitch black comedy, I mean PITCH BLACK. Now onto the second sentence. Part of what makes the film work on several levels is that, in spite of the idiocy on screen, and the fake seriousness of the story (Carter Burwell's purposely over the top score only adds to this), the film becomes like "Napoleon Dynamite" in one major aspect: it's likely to become funnier with repeated viewings. The first time one sees it, one is bound to be overwhelmed by the faux-seriousness of the production design/cinematography/music and the truly deadpan delivery (McDormand talks about her surgeries as though they're going to save her life). That's not to say that it isn't funny; if there's one thing that Pitt's character adds, it's the sense of obviousness that lets the audience know that "you aren't really supposed to take this seriously...at all...". And of course, being that this is a Coen brothers movie, when things begin to spiral out of control, it can be difficult to catch the more subtle humor, which is why there are strategically placed moments of broader comedy, which at some point begins to venture into sex-farce territory. The last of these strategic placements is the introduction of a head CIA official (Juno's JK Simmons) who corresponds with Cox's superior as the increasingly bizarre events begin to unfold. Though his scenes arrive late in the film, Simmon's is hilarious and a welcome presence on screen, even if it is just a glorified cameo. However, even if the film doesn't make you laugh much at all, it's hard to deny the Coen brothers' prowess as visual stylists, and there camera angle and scene framing are all well executed, and benefit from working with Children of Men cinemotographer Emmanuel Lubezki, who shoots some scenes with striking beauty in terms of light/dark contrast. My singular complaint about the film, however is that the beginning (aside from several Malkovich lines) takes too long to establish the oxymoronic subtle-farce tone, and shies very close to dragging. However, even though this certainly won't stand up as one of the Coens' greatest works, it certainly isn't necessary to forget after watching.

Grade: B+

Nominations: Best Picture(#5), Best Director - Joel and Ethan Coen(#5), Best Supporting Actor - John Malkovich(#5), Best Original Screenplay(#4), Best Cinematography(#5)

Number of 2008 films seen: 29

Top 10 of the Year:

1. The Dark Knight

2. WALL-E

3. In Bruges

4. The Fall

5. Burn After Reading

6. Vicky Cristina Barcelona

7. Tropic Thunder

8. Iron Man

9. Frozen River

10. The Bank Job