Home > The M.O. > Archives > 2008 > September > 12 > Entry
Take a pass on new Coen brothers’ film
It was with a mixture of excitement and low expectations that I entered the screening for ‘Burn After Reading,’ the new Coen brothers’ film. It turns out that the latter of my two motivations would be rewarded.
The film starts with a satellite image that slowly descends on CIA headquarters until we are thrust into the halls of power. As we come to learn through the film, those halls hold about as much cognitive power as a disorderly junior high, with lying, backstabbing and buck-passing at every turn. Though the film’s early sequences may seem to suggest that movie will be about the misuse of power and the oxymoron inherent in ‘Central Intelligence,’ and the buffoonery therein, it quickly spirals into a shaggy dog tale centering on people who can’t find satisfaction in their fractured personal lives.
Although it bares some similarity to the Coens’ ‘Fargo’ and ‘The Big Lebowski,’ the film is neither as dark as the former or as funny as the latter. John Malkovich and Tilda Swinton give wonderful performances that are deserving of better material, but the other performances fall flat. Brad Pitt’s quirkiness is not as trite as Tom Cruise’s profanity-laden character in ‘Tropic Thunder,’ but it comes close. The always charming George Clooney’s character waffles between unbridled neuroticism and shotgun-splayed Don Juanism that is disjointed at best, and even the usually wonderful Francis McDormand struggles to endear on any level. In fact, none of the characters are lovable or even likeable, much less entertaining, making the absurd plotline somewhat tedious.
Considering the brothers entered this endeavor fresh off of ‘No Country for Old Men,’ I guess this piece of fluff, despite some seriously dark scenes, can be excused for falling short of both the ‘dark’ and ‘comedic’ elements of a ‘dark comedy.’ Save this one for the Netflix list or a rainy matinee.
Read the Statesman film critic Chris Garcia’s review here.
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