Burn After Reading: Coen brothers and an all star cast

ninemsn

The new Coen brothers film “Burn After Reading” sees the brothers return to comedy, albeit a dark one. No doubt Joel and Ethan felt the need to lighten up a little after their last film, the heavy and noirish “No Country For Old Men”, which picked them up a swag of Academy Awards.

“Burn After Reading” moves between the improbably connected worlds of the Washington intelligence community, a local gym and internet dating.

The film opens with Osbourne Cox (John Malkovich) having a mid-life crises of sorts. He quits his job as a CIA analyst after being told he has a drinking problem and is being demoted; his wife Katie (Tilda Swinton) is having an affair and planning to divorce him; and his in-the-works memoir is stolen by some conniving gym instructors.

Early in the film Treasury agent Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney), who is sleeping with Katie, reveals that he’s carried a gun for 20 years but never shot it. It’s a not-so-subtle hint about where this film is heading – murder, blackmail and infidelity.

“Burn After Reading” has the Coen’s characteristic caustic humour and original, vivid characterisations. Every member of this ensemble cast is given the chance to work with a detailed personality: Malkovich and Swinton play to type as cold, snivelling intellectuals, while Pitt plays against type, doing a lovely turn as a dim-witted gym junkie.

Clooney dons the dunce cap for the Coens once again (this is his third film with them) and Frances McDormand is fantastic as ever playing the film’s sympathetic heroine searching for love… and the money for plastic surgery.

While the film could perhaps have used a clearer sense of purpose, it’s hard to deny that the Coen brothers continue to show a real mastery of their medium. And few will be able to pass up such an all-star cast.

ninemsn’s MovieFix, October 2008.