BURN AFTER READING (2008) - Ethan & Joel Coen

The Coen brothers are riding high on success, both financially, and critically of No Country For Old Men. The film was a dark thriller, so to follow it up, the Coens shot a comedy, something they have had success in the past with The Big Lebowski and O Brother Where Art Thou. In Burn After Reading, they set up a premise that sounds like a thriller, but fill the cast with characters who are both incredibly stupid and belong in a screwball comedy.

Osbourne Cox is a CIA analyst. His alcoholism has caused the powers that be to review his work situation and downgrade his status. Enraged, Cox quits the agency and begins his memoirs, which threatens to expose certain ‘explosive’ elements in his career. Cox’s wife, Katie is sick of Cox, plans to divorce him and hook up with Harry Pfarrer, a serial internet dater she’s been having an affair with. Katie makes a data CD of Cox’s computer information which inadvertently ends up in the hands of Chad Feldheimer and Linda Litzke, two idiotic fitness centre employees who decide to use the information to blackmail Osbourne Cox for money so that Linda can get cosmetic surgery.



And so the ensemble cast have a great time getting laughs and hamming it up. It’s just a shame they’re the only ones really having a laugh. The trailer for Burn After Reading was very promising. It showed some of the craziness of the cast and provided a few laughs. But unfortunately they showed pretty much all the laughs. I warn you, if you’ve seen the trailer for this movie, you will see everything, and I do mean everything coming way before it happens. The little plot twists are blatantly obvious, the laughs are already had and there is little left in the way of mystery. It’s a prime example of why trailers should be kept to the very minimum of footage.

Firstly, the story is very thin. It’s not that complicated despite the many prime characters and their various motivations. The characters themselves are a mish-mash of the sort of dumb secondary characters that have populated the Coens’ films over the years. They’re eccentric and have little quirks that set them apart from the average joe. In this respect, it feels like the Coens are at a stretch to fill the film. There’s not quite enough plot, so the characters are there to distract the audience. Having said that, the characters do provide some laughs. But it’s just not enough to bolster a rather weak script.



The performances, from a very very impressive cast are pretty good. Everyone has played a version of their character before, so they’re in relatively comfortable shoes. There are highlights, though. John Malkovich’s Osbourne Cox is a well-spoken, but dangerously on-edge kinda guy. He’s the person you don’t want to piss off, and Malkovich does this very well. It’s great to see him play this kind of role outside kids’ movies. It’s just a shame there’s not much more of him. Richard Jenkins, a brilliant character actor who’s been around for years has the role with the most meat, despite how little his screen time is. Jenkins’ character really is the most normal character in the film, with motivations that are more real. And Jenkins’ creates a character that’s actually believable amongst many cartoons. And Brad Pitt’s Chad Feldheimer provides most of the laughs in the film. He’s a blonde, idiotic, image-obsessed personal trainer. Yet he does have something of a heart of gold. He’s got ideas that he cannot execute and really dodgy plans. And Pitt plays this brilliantly. He makes Feldheimer someone you feel sorry for when things go wrong for him. Yet you pray for things to go wrong so that the laughs begin. George Clooney’s played the idiot before. In both O Brother Where Art Thou and Leatherheads. His character feels like an extension of those roles, so we’re seeing nothing new there. Tilda Swinton, as Katie Cox also has played the no-nonsense ruthless business type before, and it’s something she does well. And Frances McDormand, who plays the other idiot of the piece has a few choice moments and a few laughs.

Burn After Reading is rather smug. But it’s just not that funny. The ending is far too abrupt and is told to us rather than shown. Which breaks the cardinal rule of screenwriting- show, don’t tell. It’s not a remarkable film, and considering it’s from the Coens, I had hoped for far better. It won’t really jump out in the cannon of Coen films. There are a few entertaining moments, and Brad Pitt continues doing some of the best work of his career. But other than that, it’s all kind forgettable. Burn After Reading is an appropriate title. Because you most likely will forget after watching.


5/10

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (2007) - Ethan and Joel Coen

It’s been a long time coming, but the Coen Brothers have finally found a return to the brilliant form the cinema audience had come to expect from them. After such brilliant films as Raising Arizona, Fargo and The Big Lebowski, the Coens seemed to hit a creative wall in the early 2000s after The Man Who Wasn’t There. Intolerable Cruelty and the remake of The Ladykillers saw the Coens produce films that, while not terrible, weren’t as good as the rest of their body of work. But with the release of No Country For Old Men, they have given us another outstanding film, and what some are calling the finest film they have made.

No Country For Old Men follows three men, who are on a path that will see their destinies cross. Firstly, we are introduced to Anton Chigurh, a ruthless and merciless bounty hunter. Within a few minutes of being introduced to this character, it is clear that he is not somebody to be trifled with. Even when in handcuffs, he is incredibly dangerous. He’s single-minded, and will kill pretty much anybody he encounters, with a few having a lucky escape thanks to the toss of a coin. Llewelyn Moss is a welder who, while hunting the plains of Texas, stumbles across a drug deal gone bad. Everyone involved with the deal is either dead or dying. Moss finds thousands of pounds of heroin and a case containing two million dollars, which he takes for himself. It’s a decision that leads him down a dangerous and potentially deadly path. And finally, we meet Sheriff Ed Tom Bell, the Texas sheriff who is hunting for the killer of a policeman, and who’s jurisdiction the failed drug deal has come under.



The film is adapted from Cormac McCarthy’s 2005 novel of the same name. The story deals with chance and predestination, with the paths of the three men being able to be traced back to one decision. Chigurh, mentions to one character how the coin and he have travelled a road that has led to that moment in time. He is the character who seems the most in tune with the idea of predestination. In one particularly chilling scene, he plays a game of chance with a gas station attendant, and it becomes clear from this not only that he is obsessed with chance, but also how cold blooded he can be.

It’s Javier Bardem’s performance as Anton Chigurh that really is the highlight of the film. Aside from his bizarre hairstyle, which only adds to the character, Chigurh’s almost expressionless face only ever cracks into a smirk when he’s about to do something particularly nasty. It’s a totally compelling performance, and in time will probably be viewed as one of cinema’s great villains. Tommy Lee Jones brings his dry wit to the role of Sherriff Ed Tom Bell. He’s the character who is most uncomfortable with how things just ‘ain’t how they used to be.’ He’s been around a long time, and is decidedly uncomfortable with how society and the landscape aren’t the same as when he first became a Sherriff. It’s a pretty comfortable role for Jones to play, but that’s not to take away from his excellent performance.



Josh Brolin plays Llewelyn Moss. Brolin’s career is going through somewhat of a resurgence in the last year with two excellent performances in this, and American Gangster. Contrasting his villainous role in American Gangster, in No Country For Old Men, he’s the hero of the piece. He’s a Vietnam veteran (the film is set in 1980) and life has had it’s affect on him. But the discovery of the money and the problems it brings, brings some life back to him, and he becomes quite an interesting character. Kelly Macdonald puts in a career-making performance as Llewelyn’s wife, Carla Jean. While it isn’t a huge role, Macdonald seems completely at home with the southern drawl and her performance should see a great many more roles being offered to her. Woody Harrelson also turns up in a great cameo as Carson Wells, a rival bounty hunter to Chigurh.

The cinematography in the film is stunning. Roger Deakins, who shoots his second western since the beautiful The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, once again captures the vast emptiness of the west. While there was an almost golden sheen to The Assassination... his cinematography in No Country For Old Men captures the starkness of the modern western and the emptiness of the desert perfectly.

I haven’t read McCarthy’s novel, but from what I’ve been reliably informed, the Coens have presented an almost perfect adaptation. The ending of the film, which divided some audiences remains in tact, and is not a comfortable ending. Nothing really seems to wrap up neatly, and this is one of the strengths of the film. It would be all too easy to end things with dramatic logic, but I would have felt somewhat cheated. This isn’t a conventional film, and it doesn’t really warrant a conventional ending. That isn’t to say it’s not satisfying. It totally makes sense in the context of the story.

Like I’ve said, it’s been a long time since we’ve gotten a great Coen brothers film. But No Country For Old Men changes that. Is it their best film? It’s certainly arguable that it is. It’s not my favourite, that’s reserved for The Big Lebowski. But it’s certainly their most accomplished film. It leads this year’s Academy Awards with There Will Be Blood, both with eight nominations each. And with Bardem deservedly in contention for best supporting actor, it should prove for an interesting (if pointless, really) competition with Paul Thomas Anderson’s apparently amazing fifth film (something I’ve yet to see).


9/10