When we went to the theater to see Burn After Reading, we were warned at the ticket counter: "The projector bulb is burning out, so the movie might be a little dark, but you'll still be able to see it."
Yeah, if they tell you as much, don't believe them.
We sat down and the film started. Immediately, I noticed the right side of the screen was darker than the left. A few minutes in, my eyes started to hurt — straining to make out what was on the right. Fifteen minutes in, we gave up and walked out. We got tickets to see a later show, which turned out to be some other movie neither of us remembers. I was really disappointed.
A few months later, we rented the film and watched with the in-laws. We were not expecting the dildo chair or The Liberator Ramp. However, the in-laws are not the uptight sort, and neither are we.
I wasn't sure how much I liked the film, but I knew the Coens deserved another shot. I picked up the DVD a few months later when the price was right. Watching again, I started to enjoy the film a bit more, but I'll admit this isn't the first Coen brothers film I'll reach for — in fact this is one of the weaker Coen efforts overall.
That doesn't mean the film stinks; the film is actually quite good as a dark spoof of spy films and a comment on the weird combination of post-Cold War, aimless paranoia and plastic obsession of modern America. Burn After Reading is an informed, merciless funhouse mirror that I enjoy a little more each time. We need a film like this to help dilute the sea of overhyped blockbusters. That alone sells me.
I reviewed this one, and it was difficult to write about because I enjoyed the hell out of it - but I knew few other people would. You have to know spy movies very well to get most of the jokes. And you must enjoyed understated endings. Still, the Coens deservedly get a lot of criticism for letting style overtake story. I can defend it in most of their films, but not this one. It's a rather cold exercise. But now I want to rent it, so thanks.
ReplyDeleteYou have to love John Malkovich, though. "What the fuck?"
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