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| Star-loving DVD-cover for the Coen brothers' Burn After Reading |
QUICK REVIEW:
A woman, who works in a gym, finds a CD with an important spy's memoir. She then tries to sell the information to the Russians, so that she can afford the plastic surgeries that she believes she requires.
That is the premise in Burn After Reading, a grotesque and original story written and directed by the brothers Joel and Ethan Coen (The Big Lebowski (1998)). It features fun, human, - and perhaps for this reason fairly unsympathetic - characters in the grotesque world of today. The Coen brothers themselves have said that the central theme of the film is idiocy, which is something that can be said of quite a few of their films, (Lebowski and Fargo (1996) for instance.)
The acting by the star cast of John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, George Clooney, Richard Jenkins, Brad Pitt and Frances McDormand is outstanding, but SPOILER why does Pitt have to get shot in the head? - And why oh why is the ending so terribly abrupt and unsatisfactory?
Related reviews:
George Clooney: Solaris (2002) - A suffering space question mark
The Coen brothers: The Big Lebowski (1998) - The stoner comedy to reign over all
Barton Fink (1991) or, The Writer's Hell
Richard Jenkins: White House Down (2013) or, Duck, Mr. President!
John Malkovich: Art School Confidential (2006) or, World of Phoney
The Libertine (2004) - An old-fashioned wigs-and-cunts drama
Knockaraound Guys (2001) or, Foolish Men Trying to Be Gangsters
Being John Malkovich (1999) - Jonze, Kaufman and Malkovich'sgreat triumph
Brad Pitt: The Tree of Life (2011) or, Mother, Father, Sharks, Dinosaurs, My Brothers, Sunflowers, the Desert, the Wind and Me
Babel (2006) or, Everyone's Connected
with, and directed by, George Clooney: Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002) or, The Gong Show Killer
12 Monkeys (1995) or, What's the Time?
Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994) or, Tame 90s Platonicly Gay Vampire Yawner
Tilda Swinton: The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) - A very very good dream
The Beach (2000) or, Paradise Never Lasts
Idiocy is a central theme in the Coen brothers' Burn After Reading, and Brad Pitt portrays one of the idiots
Watch the trailer for this fun, imperfect ride here
Budget: 37 mil. $
Box office: 161.1 mil. $
= Big hit
What do you think of Burn After Reading and my reservations about it?
Name another funny comedy about idiots
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