"Report back to me when it makes sense” a
CIA boss barks at one of his subordinates as this farce starts to unravel.
He does report back but it never really
makes sense. BURN AFTER READING is full of characters who think they know
everything but actually don’t have a clue what they’ve got themselves caught up
in.
George Clooney is a former Secret Service agent,
married to a best selling children’s author, and having an affair with
children’s doctor Katie Cox (Tilda Swinton).
Katie’s planning to divorce her eccentric husband
Osbourne (John Malkovich). He’s quit the CIA after being demoted for an unspecified
misdemeanour and is writing his tell-all memoir in revenge.
A copy of the unfinished book lands in the
hands of Chad (Brad Pitt) and Linda (Frances McDormand), a couple of fitness trainers at a
Washington DC branch of ‘Hardbodies Gym.’
They’re not exactly the sharpest tools in
the box but they are creative and unscrupulous. They hatch a plan to extort Osbourne,
offering to return his book to him for $50,000. Linda wants the money to pay
for the plastic surgery she believes will help her find true love.
When Osbourne refuses to play ball, they
try to hawk the spyman’s story to the Russian Embassy, which is where the CIA
come in.
BURN AFTER READING is a farce whose roots
extend back to 1930s Hollywood and those screwball comedies featuring Cary
Grant, Rosalind Russell, Katharine Hepburn and Ralph Bellamy talking at
a million miles an hour as they get themselves entangled in convoluted plots
involving escaped convicts, dinosaur bones and pet leopard called ‘Baby’.
This film’s not quite in the same league as 'Bringing Up Baby,' (1938) 'His Girl Friday' (1940) or 'Nothing Sacred' (1937)
but it’s a spirited effort nonetheless.
Writer-directors Ethan and Joel Coen ('No
Country for Old Men'), have dialed down the pace a few notches to accommodate Clooney’s slightly more leisurely comedic style and the result if not exactly
comedy gold is still mighty entertaining.
Pitt proves he’s no slouch in the comedy department either, playing Chad as a
likeable and well intentioned doofus who’s funny just by being himself.
But it’s John Malkovich comes closest to
channelling the spirit of those 30s comedy classics as he rants, raves and
becomes increasingly more unhinged by the inexplicable events which are turning
his life upside down and inside out.
Frances McDormand is effortlessly
enchanting as Linda Litzke, making her larger than life without ever tipping
over into parody or overacting. Clooney’s 'Michael Clayton' co-star Tilda
Swinton, meanwhile, manages to suggest a bottomless pool of bitterness and
selfishness without once having to raise her voice.
The script is laugh out loud funny in
places and - just like the screwball classics it seeks to emulate - there’s not
a single wasted moment. Every line and scene works to keep the plot moving rapidly
forward towards its unexpected conclusion.
One of the other pleasures contained within
BURN AFTER READING is the Coen Brothers complete lack of consideration for the
stature of their all-star cast.There’s no special treatment for the names
above the title; their story is an equal opportunity offender when it comes to
stripping characters of their dignity.
Funny and pacy (the ninety six minute
running time goes by in a flash) but just too lightweight to really stick in
the memory for very long afterwards BURN AFTER READING is a fast food delight; very tasty while being consumed but quickly forgotten afterwards.
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