Burn After Reading – It’s a little bit funny

I think I've watched the Cohen Brothers' 'Burn After Reading' about four times now and, although I find it a weirdly enjoyable film, I still can't get my head round the beginning.  I guess you'd call it a black comedy/drama, filled with mix-ups and adulterous relationships, yet the catalyst for how it all begins seems to be one of those 'blink-and-you-miss-it' kind of moments.  A CIA analyst (John Malkovich) gets fired and ends up being blackmailed by a pair of gym employees (Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt), one of which is sleeping with a married man, George Clooney (who is also sleeping with John Malkovich's wife, Tilda Swinton).  Confused?  You may well be.

It’s a pretty confusing plot, not because anything’s that difficult to understand – it just has a real air of confusion about it all.  And, I think that’s deliberate.  For we, the audience, are treated like the CIA agents in the film, left to look in on this series of odd developments and wonder what the hell is going on here.

Of course the film’s storytelling style may not be to everyone’s liking, however you have to admit that it has a stellar cast.  With those names in the lead you’ll be hard pushed to not enjoy their performances.  Although, I have to say that (no-so-famous) Richard Jenkins stole every scene he was in and brought a real air of tragic pathos to the cast.  In fact, he may well be the film’s ‘heart,’ as, despite the other lead actors being big names, you may find it difficult to empathise with anyone besides Jenkins.

Although everything ties up with these characters lives, like I said, it does it in a deliberately vague way which leaves you with question marks over your head (making you see the events through the bewildered eyes of those men supposed to know everything that’s going on ever).  Oh, and don’t read too many spoilers – as there are definitely some moments that you won’t see coming!

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that