I kept hearing that the Coen Brothers‘ Burn After Reading was a comedy — while there’s certainly some funny bits and situations in here (mainly from Brad Pitt), it’s hard to think of it as a “comedy”. According to the Coens themselves, it’s mostly something of a character exercise. Â Those characters are brought to vivid life by a stellar cast which includes six Oscar nominees or winners (not counting the Coens themselves): Pitt, Clooney, McDormand, Swinton, Malkovich, Jenkins. Â But the story’s lacking and there’s no real ending. Â The total doesn’t come close to measuring up to the sum of the parts.
Grade: C+
