The MovieSite — Burn After Reading

Burn After Reading

Intelligence is relative.

George Clooney ropes in his favourite acting buddy Brad Pitt to co-star in the latest Coen brothers caper, which is a step down from their recent Oscar winner. The plot is maniac and difficult to summarise, but revolves around a group of interconnected characters who are all after a lost disc with top-secret CIA memoirs. The various characters are related either romantically or through work, and the interconnections lead to unexpected plot twists and surprises. Reviews have been forgiving, seeing as it is the Coen brothers.

94 minutes, No persons under 13 (Language, Sex, Violence)
Comedy, Crime, On the art circuit

Credits

Cast

George Clooney, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, TIlda Swinton, Brad Pitt, Richard Jenkins

Director

Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Screenplay

Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Music

Carter Burwell

Cinematography

Emmanuel Lubezki

Editing

Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Sound formats

Dolby Digital, Sony Dynamic Digital Sound, DTS

Soundtrack

Available

Made in

2008

Produced by

Mike Zoss Productions, Relativity Media, Studio Canal, Working Title Films

SA Distributor

Ster-Kinekor

FPB Report (SA)
Genre	Comedy, thriller
Language	Strong
Nudity	None
Sex	Mild
Violence	Moderate
Prejudice	None
Blasphemy	Mild
Drug abuse	None
Comments	Deadpan satire comedy with moderately adult themes and one or two shocks along the way.
These details are supplied by the FPB. If you have a problem with any of the above, please take it up directly with the FPB. Read the Classification Guidelines.

ScreenIt Report (USA)

Sex / Nudity

Violence

Blood / Gore / Gross

Guns /
Weapons

Profanity

Alcohol / Drugs

Smoking

Disrespectful /
Bad Attitude

Imitative Behaviour

Frightening /
Tense Scenes

Jump Scenes

Tense Family Scenes

Music (Scary/Tense)

Music (Inappropriate)

Topics to talk about

Ratings

Scale (Max)

South African Media

Cape Argus/The StarDiane de Beer

Die BurgerLaetitia Pople

Cape TimesKenneth Turan

iAfrica.comNils van der Linden Burn after reading? Forget after watching.

Sunday TimesBarry Ronge

24.comShaheema Barodien The Coens are not known for making missteps, if their enviable filmography is anything to go by, and Burn After Reading makes a very worthy addition.

International Media

Chicago Sunday TimesRoger Ebert This is not a great Coen brothers' film. Nor is it one of their bewildering excursions off the deep end. It's funny, sometimes delightful, sometimes a little sad, with dialogue that sounds perfectly logical until you listen a little more carefully and realize all of these people are mad.

eye Weekly (Canada)Jason Anderson Relative to Raising Arizona, The Big Lebowski and the other movies on which their reputation is staked, Burn After Reading shows a decline in panache and an increase in contempt for their own creations.

ReelViews (USA)James Berardinelli Burn After Reading likely won't be a major Oscar contender for 2009, but that doesn't mean it won't offer a hell of a good time in theaters toward the end of 2008.

Rolling Stone (US)Peter Travers The brothers have conjured a crazy-quilt comic thriller that takes on our growing national stupidity in the form of a sex farce. The result is wildly funny, but just as wildly uneven.

ScreenIt (USA)C. Fuchs

Metacritic.com37 critics

RottenTomatoes.com206 critics

RottenTomatoes.comTomatometer With Burn After Reading, the Coen Brothers have crafted another clever comedy/thriller with an outlandish plot and memorable characters.

Internet (IMDB)45876 Netizens A Plot-less Movie Can Only Go So Far

Average .. 67%

Trailer

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