Burn After Reading (2008)

Directed by: Ethan & Joel Coen
Format: Theater
Starring: Brad Pitt, John Malkovich, George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand
Trailer

There are certain directors who can always get me to fill a seat in the theater. The Coens are two of them. Although I've been burned before by the dynamic duo, I will allow that everyone makes mistakes and they haven't illed so much as to cancel themselves from my list of favorites. Burn After Reading was certainly on my list of "what to see" as soon as I saw the trailer. So, when someone offered to take me to a film Friday night, I immediately knew which one I wanted to go to. Knowing that my movie companion was a little on the conservative side (I don't mean politically), I took the chance that she'd appreciate something a little offbeat, but also oddly amusing. At least, that's what I was hoping for...

Burn After Reading is billed as a "spy comedy", but I wouldn't really classify it that way (Get Smart fits the description more). The whole thing begins with Linda Litzke (McDormand) who is a single woman desperate to feel attractive. To do so, she believes, will take a series of expensive operations. Since her insurance refuses her coverage, she is forced to seek other means of financing her endeavors. When her coworkers at the local gym discover a CD loaded with suspicious documents, she sees her chance at making a little cash. The man that she and gym-mate Chad (Pitt) make a clumsy attempt to blackmail is indeed former CIA agent, Osbourne Cox (Malkovich). The reason he's "former" is because he's got some booze-related problems and his wife, Katie (Swinton) is preparing to divorce him for attractive Treasury agent Harry Pfarrer. Pfarrer, despite the fact that he loves his wife, is an habitual cheater. Not only is he sneaking around with Cox's wife, he also manages to get into Litzke's undergarments. As if that isn't confusing enough, add in the rest of the CIA, the Russians, a few divorce attorneys and an unrequited love. Oy.

I've noticed that many great directors, the Coens included of course, choose to work with the same actors on a regular basis. It almost seems like a group of friends making movies for their own entertainment. Among the Coens regulars are Francis McDormand (Fargo, Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, Miller's Crossing) and George Clooney (O Brother, Where Art Thou?). McDormand is a fantabulous actress without a doubt. She's not as astoundingly impressive as she was in Fargo, but it's easy to see why she's got a career. Clooney's Pfarrer is the most amusing character here by far (I almost peed). He's also clearly a dirt bag for his wife's sake, but is really rather human by the end. Excellently played. Malkovich is really creepy and despicable as Cox. He didn't get any sympathy from me at all. Pitt is dumb, but lovable and takes a respectable break from the heartthrob role.

Burn After Reading does have some unsettling scenes. The overall tone of the movie is amusement and lighthearted mishaps. So, when a couple of graphicly violent shots disrupt that tone, they're all the more disturbing. That doesn't, however, make them negative aspects of the movie. In an industry saturated with explosions, zombie guts and gunfire, it's easy to see violence as commonplace. In this film, however, it has a similar effect as it might in real life. Imagine you're going to retrieve your Sunday morning newspaper from your carefully manicured suburban front lawn. You reach down, carful to keep your robe from opening and look up just in time to see the neighbor hack the paperboy's neck with a hatchet. Blood squirts everywhere and it just ruins your whole day. That's what I mean by disturbing.

I don't think I'll ever be the same after O Brother, Where Art Thou, but I think I can lower my guard just a bit. After two solid flicks (No Country for Old Men included), the Coens are proving they haven't lost their touch (although they do remind me of the guys from Myth Busters). As a fan of the two directors, I highly recommend the film. As your average movie goer, it might not be what you're expecting, but it will be worth the admission price. Go and see it now, or rent it later, but don't let it escape you either way.

Overall Rating: 4 stars
Hottie Rating: 3 stars (for Clooney/Pitt combo)

Alternate Recommendation: Blood Simple
Official Site
IMDB Page
Rolling Stone review - in which Peter Travers tries to force some type of social commentary on the picture.

No Country for Old Men (2007)

Directed by: Ethan and Joel Coen
Format: Theater
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Woody Harrelson, Kelly Macdonald

There was only one movie nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture this year that I actually had the chance to see prior to the ceremony. However, if I had it to do over again, I would have chosen the same film. After all, No Country for Old Men may not have been the most hyped movie of 2007, but it walked away with the most statues.

Deep in the heart of Texas, Llewelyn Moss (Brolin) is shootin’ at some food, when he catches sight of an injured dog in his scope. Following the dog’s trail of blood back to its origin, he discovers a cluster of pickup trucks and a collection of fresh corpses. It appears to be the scene of a drug deal gone sour and when Llewelyn finds a suitcase full of money, he doesn’t stick around to ask the dead any questions. He’s a clever fellow and he knows that someone will be looking for the cash. What he doesn’t know is that the “someone” is Anton Chigurh (Bardem), and Anton Chigurh isn’t exactly the most well-balanced individual in town. In fact, during one of the earliest scenes, Anton gives us a good healthy dose of just how nuts he really is. You might laugh at the haircut, but hardly any who cross paths with the man is laughing, or ever will again.

Apparently, I’m not the only one who thought that Javier Bardem played an excellent hired killer. He did, after all, earn himself an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for this role. I loved the cool brand of insanity he put forth as Anton. His character isn’t Mickey & Mallory crazy, but smooth and sinister like James Bond if he had roomed with John Wayne Gacy in college. Tommy Lee Jones plays the small town cop trying to get a handle on the madness involved with his new case. Jones is one of those actors, to me, who can be either really terrible, or fairly solid, depending on what movie he’s in. In this one, he does a good job. His character is basically just watching from the sidelines though and primarily works to help the audience glue the pieces together and reflect on the bigger picture. Harrelson appears in a brief role as Carson Wells, the second hit man sent out to recover the suitcase full of cash. But, he talks a big talk without backing it up with anything impressive. The only purpose I could see for Wells was as a foil for Chigurh; to offer up an example of another hired man for the main killer to contrast against. Although well played, I didn’t feel that Harrelson’s character was necessary. I was engrossed in Josh Brolin’s character most of all. Llewelyn had that “common man” appeal, but with an unexpected edge of cunning. So, he was easy to root for as the protagonist. Even though I thought Anton Chigurh was a force to be reckoned with, I kept hoping Moss would get the jump on him.

Ever since Raising Arizona, I’ve been enamored of the Coens’ filmmaking. As if that film isn’t already a fine example, they went on from there, directing Blood Simple, The Big Lebowski and Fargo (another Oscar winner). I could go on for ages about the other films I’ve enjoyed from their filmography. However, the Coens are not infallible. In 2000, there was O Brother, Where Art Thou? , which was thoroughly disappointing. When they fell short of the mark again in 2004 with The Ladykillers, I was beginning to think they’d lost their touch. But, then came No Country for Old Men. At last, my faith was restored! It has everything that I’d come to love from the Coens; good dialogue, interesting characters, and just a little touch of oddity. No Country also has a more ethereal theme that overlays the entire film.

Since I actually braved the theaters for this movie, I had the opportunity to judge crowd reaction to the film. During the majority of the picture, there wasn’t the usual obnoxious rustling of popcorn bags, inconsiderate glowing of cell phones or irritating chatting going on. There was only silence, as if everyone was on the edge of their seats. This tells me that the movie did a great job of holding everyone’s interest. At the conclusion of the movie, there was audibly disappointed gasping. Personally, I enjoy an open-ended finale from time to time. However, it seems that this audience (and maybe you as well) doesn’t approve of endings that don’t arrive in neatly tied-up packages.

Overall Rating: 5
Hottie Rating: 3 (for Javier and his voice)

Alternate viewing recommendation: Miller's Crossing
Official Site
IMDB Page
San Francisco Chronicle review

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