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Burn After Reading (2008)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
12 September 2008 (USA) moreTagline:
Intelligence is relative. morePlot:
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 synopsisAwards:
Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 9 nominations moreNewsDesk:
(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. 15 | 9:30 AM | MAX |
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only) more
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.Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parentsRuntime:
96 minLanguage:
EnglishColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 moreCertification:
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)Filming Locations:
Bronx Community College - University Avenue at West 181 Street, Bronx, New York City, New York, USA moreFun 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. moreGoofs:
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. moreSoundtrack:
My Eyes Adored You moreFAQ
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
more (445 total)
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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