Burn After Reading
Dir: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, The Coen Brothers
2008
***
Personally I didn't think Burn After Reading was up to the The Coen Brothers' usual high standards, but I did enjoy the film. Sandwiched between No Country for Old Men and A Serious Man, with only a year between each film, it seemed that the Brothers were in need of something a little lighter to get their teeth into. The film is essentially a farce that has 'idiocy' as it's main theme. The comedy acting very good overall with John Malkovich stealing the show and Brad Pitt falling a little flat. I really didn't like Pitt in this at all, he failed to hit all the right funny notes and I suspect he was cast purely for his fame. It does feel like the story was made up as they went along in some respects, again the fact that it was made just one year after and one year before other projects adds fuel to this idea. I was entertained throughout but as much as I found the J. K. Simmons ending funny, it did also feel like a lazy afterthought. It is the Coen brothers though, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, and as I said, I enjoyed but it is far from their best work.