| Overall Grade: |
D |
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| Story: |
D |
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| Acting: |
B |
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| Direction: |
C- |
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| Visuals: |
D+ |
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When Hip Becomes Square
by Wouldinya (movies profile)
Sep 26, 2008
40
of
58 people found this review helpful
The Coen Bros. got away with murder last year. They took home an Academy Award for a film that slapped the audience in the mouth by refusing to give the masses the "big shootout" at the end. It was clever at the time. It worked because it was subtle and they waited until the end of the movie to spring their trap.
In "Burn After Reading," the Coens go crazy with the 'pulling the rug out from under the audience's expectations' routine. Just when you think the movie is going to get interesting, BAM! they hit you with exposition instead of action. They do it often. Too often. The result is a tired, boring, waste of talent.
I have been a fan of the Coen Bros. since "Raising Arizona." I managed to forgive them for "Intolerable Cruelty" and "The Ladykillers" once I saw "No Country For Old Men," one of the only movies in recent years to haunt my thoughts long after it was over. "Burn After Reading" is, alas, a tremendous disappointment. It appears as though the Coen Bros. have gotten David Lynch disease, the one that struck Lynch when he had the audacity to put together the non-sensical "Inland Empire."
Both the Coen Bros. and Lynch, I feel, like playing jokes on pretentious idiots who think the more something doesn't make sense the more profound it must be. It's only true when the master (or masters) at the helm have a larger picture in mind. "No Country" was such an instance. "Lost Highway" and Mulholland Dr." were such instances. "Burn After Reading" is just nonsense. Pure and simple. If someone tries to convince you otherwise, see if you can talk them into buying some swamp land in Florida. |
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