Movie Review: Burn After Reading
http://www.thejournalofstudentministries.com/articles/167/1/Movie-Review-Burn-After-Reading/Page1.html
Smitty Wheeler
For the last 24-years, Smitty has worked with middle school, high school, and college students as a mentor, coach, and volunteer youth pastor. Smitty also operates an advertising agency, business consultancy specializing in business turnarounds, is the Chief of Operations of Student Ministry Partners and an Advisory Board member for The Journal of Student Ministries. . By Smitty Wheeler
Published on 09/16/2008
From Fargo and Raising Arizona, to last year’s No Country For Old Men, the Coen brothers have built their careers on films that strangely blend the absurd with the normal. Burn After Reading, and the self-absorbed goofballs that make up the film, neatly fit into that bizarre, yet entertaining, repertoire of movies.
Rated R, 96 min.
From Fargo and Raising Arizona, to last year’s No Country For Old Men, the Coen brothers have built their careers on films that strangely blend the absurd with the normal. Burn After Reading, and the self-absorbed goofballs that make up the film, neatly fit into that bizarre, yet entertaining, repertoire of movies.
Overview: Osborne Cox (John Malkovich), or Oz as he’s called, has recently been let go as a CIA analyst and has decided to use his free time to write his memoirs. The problem is, he gets a little careless with his top-secret documents, which find their way into the hands of two goofy gym employees—Chad (Brad Pitt) and Linda (Frances McDormand). Seeing an opportunity to make a quick score, the two decide they will blackmail Oz. However, it's quickly clear that they are in way over their heads.
Just as Oz begins to demonstrate just how out of their element Chad and Linda really are, enter the Russians.
The Lowdown: Burn After Reading is a far-out, suspenseful comedy of errors that gives us a look at everything from CIA paranoia, human greed and the overall dysfunction of the lead characters. Be aware that while there are plenty of laughs – from Pitt's zealous dance moves to Clooney's nervous twitch – this is definitely an adult comedy.
Teachable Moments: While I wish I could say you’ll garner a lot of spiritual wisdom and have loads of teaching examples from this movie for your students, I just can’t. There are, perhaps, a few nuggets you can use.
Pitt, as dimwitted trainer Chad Feldheimer, amusingly tries to invoke the story of the Good Samaritan as a way to pat himself on the back.
Ted compliments Linda and tries to warn her away from unscrupulous choices. "You're changing, Linda," he says. "It's very sad." He also refuses to help Linda fund her body reconstruction when she tries to maneuver him into it.
In a moment of regret regarding his colorful past, Harry calls his wife and asks her to come home from her business trip. It looks as though he's prepared to begin working to heal their relationship, although his virtuous urge soon passes.
Viewer Discretion: Burn After Reading is rated R for pervasive language, sexual content and violence. The language includes about sixty f-bombs and the Lord's name being misused at least twenty times. There are multiple implied sexual relationships with people dressing “after” the act, although no explicit nudity or action is seen. There is visual gag involving a bizarre sex-toy near the end of the movie. While violence does not saturate the movie, there are two pretty violent scenes involving an accidental shot to the head and an intentional, brutal attack with a gun and ax.
General Appeal: While the movie is very rough in its use of language and contains a few shocking scenes, many will find it to be a strangely funny and entertaining comedy. My recommendation is to see this movie only for sheer entertainment, and don't spend more than the matinee price—then you might come away feeling like it was worth 96 minutes of your time.
The Final Grade: Entertainment value: B; Ministry value: D-
Overview: Osborne Cox (John Malkovich), or Oz as he’s called, has recently been let go as a CIA analyst and has decided to use his free time to write his memoirs. The problem is, he gets a little careless with his top-secret documents, which find their way into the hands of two goofy gym employees—Chad (Brad Pitt) and Linda (Frances McDormand). Seeing an opportunity to make a quick score, the two decide they will blackmail Oz. However, it's quickly clear that they are in way over their heads.
Just as Oz begins to demonstrate just how out of their element Chad and Linda really are, enter the Russians.
The Lowdown: Burn After Reading is a far-out, suspenseful comedy of errors that gives us a look at everything from CIA paranoia, human greed and the overall dysfunction of the lead characters. Be aware that while there are plenty of laughs – from Pitt's zealous dance moves to Clooney's nervous twitch – this is definitely an adult comedy.
Teachable Moments: While I wish I could say you’ll garner a lot of spiritual wisdom and have loads of teaching examples from this movie for your students, I just can’t. There are, perhaps, a few nuggets you can use.
Pitt, as dimwitted trainer Chad Feldheimer, amusingly tries to invoke the story of the Good Samaritan as a way to pat himself on the back.
Ted compliments Linda and tries to warn her away from unscrupulous choices. "You're changing, Linda," he says. "It's very sad." He also refuses to help Linda fund her body reconstruction when she tries to maneuver him into it.
In a moment of regret regarding his colorful past, Harry calls his wife and asks her to come home from her business trip. It looks as though he's prepared to begin working to heal their relationship, although his virtuous urge soon passes.
Viewer Discretion: Burn After Reading is rated R for pervasive language, sexual content and violence. The language includes about sixty f-bombs and the Lord's name being misused at least twenty times. There are multiple implied sexual relationships with people dressing “after” the act, although no explicit nudity or action is seen. There is visual gag involving a bizarre sex-toy near the end of the movie. While violence does not saturate the movie, there are two pretty violent scenes involving an accidental shot to the head and an intentional, brutal attack with a gun and ax.
General Appeal: While the movie is very rough in its use of language and contains a few shocking scenes, many will find it to be a strangely funny and entertaining comedy. My recommendation is to see this movie only for sheer entertainment, and don't spend more than the matinee price—then you might come away feeling like it was worth 96 minutes of your time.
The Final Grade: Entertainment value: B; Ministry value: D-