(no subject)
Burn After Reading
Though it may fall slightly short of the extremely high bar set by Joel and Ethan Coen, there's a leagues-deep cynicism in Burn After Reading that is thoroughly admirable. It's rare to see this level of misanthropy in mainstream Hollywood: every character is either a self-deluding idiot, a detatched and uncaring idiot, or simply an idiot of such outstanding proportions that they are effectively walking onto screen with a big stamp that says DOOMED on their forehead.
Most amazingly of all, their idiocy curses them to lose control of their lives to bewildered, disinterested gods in CIA offices who casually save or destroy on a whim. It's almost the reverse of typical Hollywood, where heroes seize control of destiny and fight to success. The presence of Clooney (here a cheery womaniser obsessed with "getting a run in" and wooden floors) and Pitt (playing an aging himbo dolt) serve to show the film as a counterpoint to Ocean's 11 and its sequels. In that world, cunning, quick wits and luck reward the heroes with wealth and women. In Burn After Reading, cunning, quick wits and luck don't even exist - it's just a parade of fools spiralling down a drain.
The film works, I feel, because the Coens handle the slight storyline of blackmail and petty deception dead straight, throwing in a couple of tense suspense sequences, an engaging mystery (what is Clooney building in his basement? I bet you can't guess!) and some of the shocking violence we've come to expect from even their most benign films. First and foremost it's a comedy, and a disposable one at that - the title even warns the viewer not to expect too much meaning from it. But Burn After Reading's disposability comes from a different and still unusual place. It's about stupid people, absolutely, but it's far from a stupid film.
Though it may fall slightly short of the extremely high bar set by Joel and Ethan Coen, there's a leagues-deep cynicism in Burn After Reading that is thoroughly admirable. It's rare to see this level of misanthropy in mainstream Hollywood: every character is either a self-deluding idiot, a detatched and uncaring idiot, or simply an idiot of such outstanding proportions that they are effectively walking onto screen with a big stamp that says DOOMED on their forehead.
Most amazingly of all, their idiocy curses them to lose control of their lives to bewildered, disinterested gods in CIA offices who casually save or destroy on a whim. It's almost the reverse of typical Hollywood, where heroes seize control of destiny and fight to success. The presence of Clooney (here a cheery womaniser obsessed with "getting a run in" and wooden floors) and Pitt (playing an aging himbo dolt) serve to show the film as a counterpoint to Ocean's 11 and its sequels. In that world, cunning, quick wits and luck reward the heroes with wealth and women. In Burn After Reading, cunning, quick wits and luck don't even exist - it's just a parade of fools spiralling down a drain.
The film works, I feel, because the Coens handle the slight storyline of blackmail and petty deception dead straight, throwing in a couple of tense suspense sequences, an engaging mystery (what is Clooney building in his basement? I bet you can't guess!) and some of the shocking violence we've come to expect from even their most benign films. First and foremost it's a comedy, and a disposable one at that - the title even warns the viewer not to expect too much meaning from it. But Burn After Reading's disposability comes from a different and still unusual place. It's about stupid people, absolutely, but it's far from a stupid film.