Burn After Reading Movie Review

Burn After Reading is about a woman named Linda Litzke (Francis McDormand) who wants plastic surgery. She is so desperate for this plastic surgery and “extreme maker/new self” that she will do anything for that surgery, considering she cannot afford it. (Really, anything.) She and her co-worker, Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt), come across a disc containing confidential information on an ex-CIA agent, Osborne Cox (John Malkovich), who was recently fired. Katie Cox (Tilda Swinton), Osborn’s wife, is having an affair with Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney) and needs that disc in order to divorce her husband. Meanwhile, Linda and Chad desperately try to sell the disc thinking they will make a large amount of money for it. Random occurences and dark twists with a twisted sense of humor follows.

This movie was made by people with a cynical sense of humor; this movie was made for people with a cynical sense of humor. With the awesome cast in this movie, I was expecting a serious movie with some type of intelligent plot; this movie is not that. This movie contains gruesome yet slapstick violence, humorous dialogue, a ludicrous plot with absolutely random (random, random, random) twists.

That being said, I enjoyed the movie and laughed at scenes that were supposed to be funny, however, those who laughed would be considered horrible people. I had fun watching a man beaten to death with a hammer, and I indulged in the circle of affairs these characters partook (not to mention, George Clooney’s “ingeniously built” chair). I especially enjoyed Tilda Swinton’s bitchy but cheap remarks and the fact she was a pediatrician (seriously, lol for real). However, I could not stand Linda Litzke (Francis McDormand) - I found her annoying, shallow (though, all characters in the movie were quite shallow), and - uh - loose (but weren’t they all? :]) I was hoping she would die. Brad Pitt played an idiot; John Malcovich played an angst-ridden man; and George Clooney played a man-whore.

If you’re looking for cynical laughs (seriously, cynical), then watch the movie and laugh your ass away while you repeat to yourself, “I’m a terrible person!” Just don’t watch the movie and expect an awesome amount of awesomeness. There are betters movies out there.