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BURN AFTER READING

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BURN AFTER READING
Starring: George Clooney, Frances McDormand, Brad Pitt, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton and Richard Jenkins

Directed By: Joel and Ethan Coen

R for pervasive language, some sexual content and violence

By John Delia
Burn After Reading tops the charts as one of the Coen Brother’s most quirky films they ever made. It’s a mix of comedy like their O’ Brother Where Art Thou and the wackiness as in Fargo. If you like the Coen type of humor and storylines, then this film should be at the top of your list to see.
The film is a situation comedy where we find elderly CIA analyst Osborne Cox (Malkovich) quitting after being demoted. His wife Katie (Swinton) prods him on what he’s going to do to make up the loss of income, as she certainly doesn’t want to carry him the rest of his life. So Osborne decides to write his memoirs. In the meantime, Katie decides to file for divorce because her affair with federal marshal Harry Pfarrer (Clooney) has escalated and she subsequently has been advised by her lawyer to get her hands on all of Osborne’s financials before she serves the papers. When a computer disk with some unusual information involving CIA financial records belonging to Osborne turn up in the locker room of a Washington DC fitness club, employees Chad Feldheimer (Pitt) and Linda Litzke (McDormand) find personal reasons why they should blackmail Osborne for a huge sum of money. This sets off a cornucopia of comical situations of which some however end in disaster.
Malcovich and Pitt are hysterical as two men at odds with each other over what Pitt’s character thinks are secret CIA documents. Their confrontation in Osborne’s car had me rolling with laughter. Clooney does his best acting when it comes to the Coen’s characters. His portrayal of the cheating husband who finds himself in the middle of a blackmail scheme is a scream. Swinton and McDormand take on the pivotal roles of two very dysfunctional characters that make Coen’s film work. As Osborne’s disenchanted wife, Swinton rants and snarls until she achieves what she wants, even if it takes some devious means to accomplish it. Playing an out of control fitness associate McDormand finds herself conflicted when she can’t raise enough money to pay for some plastic surgery she is obsessed over. Her vanity continuously gets in the way when she teams with Chad in their blackmail scheme. I especially liked her on line dating scenes, which are hilarious.
The Coen Brothers are at the top of their game with Burn After Reading. The nonsense that’s created in most of their films shows very prevalent in this one. Taking simple characters and putting them in their signature no-win situations brings about laughter even when some of their subjects are shockingly murdered.
Burn After Reading contains pervasive language, sexual content and violence so the film may have a negative affect on immature children.

FINAL ANALYSIS: Burn After Reading is a hilarious romp that should please all Coen fans. 4 of 5 stars

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