Friday, September 26, 2008

Laugh while watching: Burn After Reading review

Wow. After last year's dramatic, dark and gritty Coen treat No Country for Old Men, Burn After Reading is certainly a change of pace for the legendary brotherly directing duo.

More akin to Raising Arizona, Burn follows several interconnecting plots wherein folks are cheating on everyone with everyone and a couple-a numskulls discover a memoir from a former CIA agent they mistake for "extremely sensitive shit" they might be able to get a reward for returning (read: blackmail).

The plot gets a bit confusing, but that's actually kind of the point. Everybody is convinced of how cool and in control they are only to find out they are anything but. In the end, nobody knows what the hell is going on.

While I laughed my ass off while watching the film and will certainly add it to my DVD collection, the best way I could describe Burn After Reading is "forgettable."

There's terrific performances, amazing dialogue and plenty to enjoy, but in the end you'll leave the theater with one thing on your mind: "Um...Okay. What's for dinner?"

While Burn proves a worthy addition to the Coen library, it is also one of their most unnecessary additions.

Fun and darkly hilarious, but that's about it.

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