My Poor Brain

If you liked No Country For Old Men, well, it doesn’t matter because “Burn After Reading” is a DIFFERENT film altogether.

“What the fuck!?” is what the tagline should be for this movie. John Malkovich’s character uses it extensively, and the audiences across the nation have probably said it too while watching this.

The story starts off simple enough: a CIA analyst gets demoted but doesn’t take it too well, and quits instead. He decides to start writing some memoirs that include details about his secret work with the CIA. His wife, in an attempt to get his financial records on a disc, accidentally copies his memoirs along with them. Her lawyer’s secretary drops her copy in Hardbody’s Gym and it lands in the hands of the awesomely, flaky, bleached-blonde-haired Chad Feldheimer played every little bit by Brad Pitt. He believes he has his hands on some classified intelligence “shit”. He believes he can get money for it by blackmailing the owner, Osbourne Cox played by Malkovich, and Chad’s co-worker wants in on the action so she can pay for her cosmetic surgery(s).

A tangled fucking web starts to get weaved including unfaithful wives and husbands, and one confused as hell CIA superior played perfectly by J.K. Simmons (most would know him as J. Jonah Jameson, or Juno’s daddy).

I was super-pumped to go see this movie. One reason being the Coens, and the other being Brad Pitt. I say Brad Pitt because the dude is fucking amazing in everything I’ve seen him in since Fight Club, not because I’m gay (I’d fuck him).

Brad Pitt definitely lived up to my expectations and beyond, as always with him. We are so used to seeing him being the cool guy, but then you get him as this who works in a gym and just does NOT have a clue and it is brilliant.

John Malkovich was pure madness and pushed the anger and drinking problems to just the right level, not too over the top.

Frances McDormand’s character was just as dumb as Pitt’s, and they were an amazing team. Watching her character’s actions was a treat. The whole time you are thinking to yourself, “Is she really doing/saying that?”

Tilda Swinton played an awesome bitch. Yeah, she was a bitch and it was perfect.

Let’s not forget Mr. George Clooney. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him in a role like this. With the combination of Brad Pitt AND George Clooney playing someone other than their cool guy characters, it was amazing. It was refreshing to not recognize Clooney as Clooney, and instead as this guy with some serious issues.

What amazes me most about this movie is the writing. This is one of the best stories, writing-wise, that I’ve ever seen. This is some hardcore and reverse-engineered “shit”. I say reverse-engineered because there’s no way the Coens’ could write this in a linear fashion. They had to have started at the end and wrote this backwards to follow it themselves. I give them HUGE credit for this.

Best comedy/thriller/spy-crime/drama/noir/”What the fuck!?” film of the year.

Burn After Reading

8 out of 10