DVD
REVIEW: BURN AFTER READING

12/19/08

SYNOPSIS:
When a computer disc containing material for the CIA
analyst's memoirs accidentally falls into the hands of Linda
and Chad, the duo are intent on exploiting their find. As
Ted frets, "No good can come of this," events spiral out of
everyone's and anyone's control, in a cascading series of
darkly hilarious encounters.
REVIEW: Osborne Cox:
Give me the CD!
Chad Feldheimer: Give me the money!
You do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around, that’s
what it’s all about. Well, that and infidelity all over the
place, extreme amateur espionage, and aging . . . not in any
particular order. This movie was a good taste of a not very
common genre, the crime comedy or comedy thriller. Sure
there are a lot of crime comedies but a well balanced one is
uncommon. Most crime comedies seem to be a lot more crime
than comedy or a lot more comedy than crime. This one seemed
a little better balanced by giving us both extremes, hard
core crime and rolling laughter comedy, a Coen brother
specialty. This movie did score well on my tear factor
scale. Tears rolled down my face from laughter a couple of
times. It was very funny and enjoyable.
What truly makes this movie is the incredible cast and the
off the wall roles they play. A bearded George Clooney plays
Harry Pfarrer, a twitchy, paranoid, womanizer. I’ve never
seen him open his eyes so wide as he did in a particular
scene. He reminded me of Donald Sutherland in Invasion of
the Body Snatchers. The man with a thousand looks, hairdos,
and characters, Brad Pitt, graces us with and yet another
one as he plays Chad Feldheimer, a gym trainer. This is
definitely one of his goofiest roles ever. If you’ve seen
the preview, you know what I mean and yeah, the character
really is like that. He delivers some of the funniest
moments in the film. In a lot of scenes he is teamed up with
Frances McDormand who plays a co-worker, Linda Litzke. Will
Frances ever stop impressing me? I really can’t think of any
poorly played role she has ever done and like Brad, this is
probably one of her goofiest roles and she nails it. On the
opposite end of the spectrum, we have two domineering
characters, Osborne Cox and Katie Cox, expertly played by
John Malkovich and Tilda Swinton. A character like Osborne
is right up John’s ally. Recent Oscar winner Tilda is going
to flourish and she has the talent to do so. Although both
these roles did not stand out as much as the others
mentioned, they did give solid performances. I wasn’t too
crazy about Richard Jenkins role as Ted Treffon, the gym
boss. It was a small role but he was just too nerdy for my
taste and it didn’t seem to fit him. It was uncomfortable.
But again, the overall acting and the entertaining
characters in this movie really makes it worthwhile.
The story was really quite ridiculous and convoluted but it
added to the humor of the film. I’ll admit, however, that
some moments seemed to drag a little, but there were plenty
of twists and turns to keep you guessing as to what could
possibly happen next. The dialogue was outdone by the acting
but it was pretty good too. It was kept basic and not as
elevated as it could have been given the subject matter. The
cinematography had good use of varying points of view and
camera angles. In summary and simply put, this is not the
best work ever done by the also recently and multiple Oscar
winning Writer/Director brother team, the Coens, but it is
worthy of praise. I personally don’t see any Oscars being
generated out of this work though. If you saw and enjoyed
such flicks as Ladykillers, Fargo, Intolerable Cruelty, and
No Country for Old Men, you should seriously consider this
one.
Film
Review By Cine Marcos
cinemarcos@smartcine.com
DVD: The DVD is
presented in 1.85:1 aspect ration preserving the
theatrical presentation of the film. The picture is
complemented with a 5.1 Dolby Digital audio tracks
in three different languages, English,
Spanish and French.
The special features are
very slim in this DVD release. It only contains 3
special features, with a total running time of 21
minutes. Two of the special features are mainly about
the cast. In "DC Insiders Run Amuck" and "Welcome
Back George". Filmmakers and the cast talk about their
roles in the film. One thing that I found interesting in
these 2 featurettes, was that they don't include any
comments by Brad Pitt. Wonder Why! The only
interesting feature that I found was the featurette
called "Finding The Burn". A five minute
featurette in which Joel Coen and
Ethan Coen talk about their inspiration for making the film.
VIDEO:
1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
AUDIO:
English,
Spanish and French
5.1 (Dolby Digital).
Subtitles - English Spanish
French - Optional
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Finding The Burn:
The making of Burn After Reading from inspiration to the big
screen. (5:31)
DC Insiders Run
Amuck: We show the strength in putting together some
of the most amazing talent in the world to create a world of
Washington, DC. (12:24)
Welcome Back George:
This is a companion, comedy piece, focusing on Mr. Clooney
as he returns for his third collaboration with Ethan and
Joel Coen. (2:51)
RATING BREAK DOWN:
FILM REVIEW |
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VIDEO |
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AUDIO |
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BONUS
FEATURES |
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