IMDb > Burn After Reading (2008)
Burn After Reading
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Burn After Reading (2008) More at IMDbPro »

Photos (see all 114 | slideshow) Videos (see all 32 NEW)
Burn After Reading (2008) -- Burn After Reading - Theatrical Trailer
Burn After Reading (2008) -- Clip: The perils of goat cheese
Burn After Reading (2008) -- Tilda Swinton in Burn After Reading
Burn After Reading (2008) -- Interview: Frances McDormand "On Brad Pitt's performance"
Burn After Reading (2008) -- A disk containing the memoirs of a CIA agent ends up in the hands of two unscrupulous gym employees who attempt to sell it.

Overview

User Rating:
7.3/10   77,295 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 2% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Directors:
Ethan Coen
Joel Coen
Writers (WGA):
Joel Coen (written by) &
Ethan Coen (written by)
Contact:
View company contact information for Burn After Reading on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
12 September 2008 (USA) more
Genre:
Comedy | Crime | Drama more
Tagline:
Intelligence is relative. more
Plot:
A disk containing the memoirs of a CIA agent ends up in the hands of two unscrupulous gym employees who attempt to sell it. full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 9 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(584 articles)
Us Box Office Visited By Three Ghosts...
 (From EmpireOnline. 9 November 2009, 1:15 AM, PST)

Moviegoers Stingy with Scrooge
 (From BoxOfficeMojo.com. 8 November 2009, 5:22 PM, PST)

User Comments:
More "Big Lebowski" Than "Intolerable Cruelty" -- thankfully more (445 total)
US TV Schedule:
Sun. Nov. 159:30 AMMAX   

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Additional Details

Also Known As:
Burn After Reading (France)
Quémese después de leerse (Argentina) (Mexico) (Peru) [es]
После прочтения сжечь (Russia) [ru]
Aramizda casus var (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Burn After Reading (Japan: English title) [en]
Burn After Reading - Wer verbrennt sich hier die Finger? (Germany) [de]
Burn after reading - A prova di spia (Italy) [it]
Destruir Depois de Ler (Portugal) [pt]
Kafto aporrito (Greece) [el]
Lire et détruire (Canada: French title) [fr]
Põletada peale lugemist (Estonia) [et]
Po prectení spalte (Czech Republic) [cs]
Queime depois de Ler (Brazil) [pt]
Quemar después de leer (Spain: Castilian title) [es]
Spaliti nakon citanja (Croatia) [hr]
Tajne przez poufne (Poland) [pl]
more
MPAA:
Rated R for pervasive language, some sexual content and violence.
Runtime:
96 min
Country:
USA | UK | France
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS
Certification:
USA:R (certificate #44448) | Canada:13+ (Québec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Ontario) | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-13 | Australia:MA | Singapore:M18 (cut) | Singapore:NC-16 (video rating) (heavily cut) | UK:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Germany:12 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Brazil:14 | Argentina:16 | Netherlands:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Japan:PG-12 | Czech Republic:15 | Peru:14 | France:U | South Korea:18 | Iceland:14 (video rating) | Iceland:16 (original rating)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
When Harry's wife is on the Seattle show, the show's host interrupts her, saying that "Dermot Mulrooney" is coming on after the commercial break. Dermot Mulroney is the actor that plays "Star of 'Coming Up Daisy'" in the actual film. more
Goofs:
Continuity: When Linda and Chad are at the Russian Embassy, the video surveillance shot shows that it is May 1st, later it shows Harry looking at his cell phone with the date being 17/9/2008, September 17th, obviously 5 months later. more
Quotes:
Krapotkin: This is Mr Krapotkin from the Russian embassy.
Linda Litzke: Mr Crapkin...
more
Movie Connections:
Features "Family Feud" (1999) more
Soundtrack:
My Eyes Adored You more

FAQ

How much sex, violence, and profanity are in this movie?
What is the song that plays in the end credits?
Is "Burn After Reading" based on a book?
more
117 out of 208 people found the following comment useful.
More "Big Lebowski" Than "Intolerable Cruelty" -- thankfully, 10 September 2008
Author: erica-224 from U.S.

BURN AFTER READING is laugh-out-loud funny. It's more "Big Lebowski" than "Intolerable Cruelty," though there are wisps of both, but "Burn" is not quite up to Lebowski's genius. Still, it is very, very funny and loads of fun.

From the opening moments, the Coens' latest movie -- a spy-thriller spoof -- hurls the viewer on a hilarious romp through Absurd-land. What better place to set such a story than Washington, DC?

The story involves a demoted government worker (John Malkovich) who finds himself the target of an extortion scheme by two gym workers, riotously played by Frances McDormand (a would-be gym bunny if only she could afford some plastic surgery) and Brad Pitt (a high-energy, arm-thrusting, hip-shaking fitness trainer-cum-"good Samaritan" who lands himself way in over his head). The romp soon turns dark.

As usual, the Coens' dialog is a real treat. When a co-worker points to Malkovich's alcohol problems as a reason for his demotion, Malkovich retorts, "You're a Mormon. Next to you we all have a drinking problem." And as usual in Coen-land, there's a clash between high and low brow. Malkovich's pronunciations of "mem-wahhh" for "memoir" is a hoot, and his correction of Pitt's mistaken "report" for "rapport" propels a conflict between classes and types -- symbols of a society in trouble, whose priorities are askew.

As in the Coen brothers' 1987 box-office hit RAISING ARIZONA, obsessions fuel the plot, though this time it's body (not baby) obsession. McDormand is hellbent on getting expensive elective surgery to "reinvent" herself. Pitt is a workout addict, who can barely stop moving long enough to think straight. And George Clooney, who can only stop talking when it's time to go running or jump into bed with someone, plays a G-man fixated on sex. Notions of "intelligence" and all that the word connotes (along with its antonyms) mix into the film's dark comedic brew of unintended consequences.

Where does it go? I don't want to give away any of the twists to answer that question in depth. But I would disagree with the critics who claim it doesn't go anywhere. The movie and its over-the-top, needless violence show how secretive missions even by bumbling know-nothings (whose only knowledge of undercover ops seems to come from spy flicks) can have disastrous outcomes. Secrets in Washington? Sure sounds like a topic we should all be better versed in.

- Erica Rowell Author: The Brothers Grim: The Films of Ethan and Joel Coen http://www.amazon.com/Brothers-Grim-Films-Ethan-Joel/dp/0810858509

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The only Coen Bros film I have ever liked! linda303
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