Burn After Reading [MA]

Osborne Cox is an analyst who is fired from the CIA for his drinking problem and is now drinking at home and writing his memoirs. His wife is having an affair with a man who is a compulsive dater and is being followed by divorce lawyers hired by his wife. In deciding to divorce Osborne, his wife downloads all his financial files, which are then put onto a disc to be taken to her lawyer. But the disc manages to be left behind on a gym changing room floor and discovered by two dim-witted employees in need of cash who mistake the files for documents of national security. They decide to blackmail Osborne, Osborne thinks they’ve stolen his memoirs, and soon the whole thing spirals into complete, bloody, chaos that no one can control. 

THIS HAS TO BE THE ONE OF THE FUNNIEST AND CLEVEREST FILMS THAT I HAVE SEEN! This movie is awesome! Absolutely awesome! It’s sharp, brutal, aggressive, witty, and hands-down the most hysterical comedy the Coen brothers have done! 

Osborne Cox is an analyst who is fired from the CIA for his drinking problem and is now drinking at home and writing his memoirs. His wife is having an affair with a man in the treasury who is being followed by divorce lawyers hired by his wife. In deciding to divorce Osborne, his wife downloads all his financial files, which are then put onto a disc to be taken to her lawyer. But the disc somehow manages to wind up on the floor of a gym changing room and is discovered by two dim-witted employees who are in need of cash and mistake the contents of the disc for documents of national security. They decide to blackmail Osborne, Osborne thinks that they have stolen his memoirs, and the whole thing soon spirals into complete and bloody chaos that no one can control or make sense of. 

Another classic example of mistakes and the Ripple Effect, Burn After Reading was really made hilarious by the performances of its actors. I mean, the story was there and brilliant to begin with, but the cast that made up this film was a wonderfully bizarre blend and each gave a performance that was hugely hysterical and highly memorable. 

First kudos must be given to Brad Pitt who gave an explosive performance as a gym junkie with most of his brain in his biceps. Between his singing with headphones in and then playing the Men In Black part according to how it’s done on screen, you could not help but laugh whenever he was on the screen. 

Next, we must draw our focus onto George Clooney who played the pursued lover of Osborne’s wife. Practically everything that comes out of his mouth is unfathomable, but then to watch him grow spectacularly paranoid and have these amazing, panicky outbursts is just hilarious! 

John Malkovich delivers a wonderfully brutal and aggressive performance as Osborne. Practically every work out of his mouth is “fuck” and you’re just watching the screen going “thank God I’m not there right now”. You wouldn’t want to be on Osborn’s wrong side, I can tell you that. 

And finally, Frances McDormand as a middle aged woman who is desperate to raise cash for cosmetic surgery is just hysterical! She was driven, intense, funny, and treads that fine line between overly eager and completely psycho. I loved her. 

Also starring Tilda Swinton, Richard Jenkins, David Rasche, Kevin Sussman, Olek Krupa, and J. K. Simmons, Burn After Reading is a real laugh-out-loud comedy that’s filled with violence, deceptions, epic mistakes, murder, and plenty of monumental fuck-ups. IT’S ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT PEOPLE! WATCH IT!