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I finally got around to watching Burn After Reading last night. It's a hard movie to review because there was so much great stuff in it, and yet it had sort of an...unfinished feel to it. Hard to explain. When it ended, I felt like there could've been another half hour of movie left. It just seemed to end kind of abruptly.
Malkovich, Pitt, Clooney, and McDormand were all outstanding in their roles. They all do comedy really well. Plenty of laugh out loud moments and several classic lines.
My two favorite lines both came from Malkovich.
***SPOILERS***
"You are part of a league of morons. You're one of the morons I've been fighting my whole life -- my whole, fucking life. But guess what? Today, I win."
And, of course...
"A drinking problem? A DRINKING PROBLEM? You're a Mormon! Compared to you we all have a drinking problem."
***END SPOILERS***
I can recommend it without hesitation, but it isn't up there with their best work. But it's far better than Intolerable Cruelty. I think this will probably be one that gets better with repeated viewings. I also think I might judge the Coens' movies on a different scale because I expect so much from them. If this was done by an unknown writer and director, I'd probably be raving about it.
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I saw this last week and thought it was okay. I felt the same way about the ending... or lack thereof. I'd give it 2.5 stars out of 4.
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Just watched this the other night and thought it was a fucking riot! Malkovich and Pitt were fucking hilarious.
SPOILER
I thought the funniest part was when Malkovich was running after the guy with the hatchet yelling "Intruder! Intruder!" before wailing on him with the hatchet.
I picture a pissed-off Amazon bitch; uncontrollable, disobedient, boldly resisting any kind of emotional shackles...angrily begging for more ejaculate. -KB
Showing your teeth is a sign of weakness in primates. Whenever someone smiles at me, all I see is a chimpanzee begging for its life. - Dwight
RIP Sarge
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<!--quoteo(post=11963:date=Jan 16 2009, 10:04 AM:name=Jody)-->QUOTE (Jody @ Jan 16 2009, 10:04 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Just watched this the other night and thought it was a fucking riot! Malkovich and Pitt were fucking hilarious.
SPOILER
I thought the funniest part was when Malkovich was running after the guy with the hatchet yelling "Intruder! Intruder!" before wailing on him with the hatchet.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Agree with both Butch and Jodish...
Ending was abrupt, but they did stay true to their "death is random and inconsequential" motif.
Good stuff.
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As usual, the Coen brothers did a great job casting this movie. Malkovich really was hilarious, and I hope he works with them again.
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<!--quoteo(post=11983:date=Jan 16 2009, 12:00 PM:name=ColoradoCub)-->QUOTE (ColoradoCub @ Jan 16 2009, 12:00 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->As usual, the Coen brothers did a great job casting this movie. Malkovich really was hilarious, and I hope he works with them again.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Malkovich has so many great moments in the movie
***SPOILERS***
I love when Malkovich is talking to the guy at the bank on the phone and says something like, "No, I don't know my account number, because believe it or not I don't spend my entire day sitting around trying to memorize THE FUCKING NUMBERS TO MY FUCKING BANK ACCOUNTS!"
***BIG SPOILER***
And I nearly shat myself when Clooney unveils his little project in the basement. "Hundred bucks, all in -- not counting my labor, and the...cost of the dildo."
***END OF SPOILERS***
I think I need to watch this one again. The more I think about it, the more I keep laughing.
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Yeah, I totally thought he was building some contraption to kill his wife.
I picture a pissed-off Amazon bitch; uncontrollable, disobedient, boldly resisting any kind of emotional shackles...angrily begging for more ejaculate. -KB
Showing your teeth is a sign of weakness in primates. Whenever someone smiles at me, all I see is a chimpanzee begging for its life. - Dwight
RIP Sarge
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i liked it, saw it like the day it came out so definitely need to see it again. i like how they usually follow their serious movies w/ goofs like this. their "goofs" are a hundred times better than most hacks' serious ones too
Life is a bitch, but she's totally doable.
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I really liked it as well. Great acting, excellent cast, and it was never boring. The only part of it that I felt was unacceptably unrealistic and over the top was the fact that the FBI people kept sweeping all the murders under the rug and didn't seem to care why potentially classified information was being used for blackmail, etc. That helps make the abrupt ending seem appropriate, but it still leaves you with something to be desired.
Anyway, I'd still give it about 3.5/5 stars. Very funny stuff. Reminded me a lot of Fargo.
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I thought this was udderly boring and unfunny. I thought it didn't live up to its casting. I thought the script was great, but that was the only saving grace. Waste of time.
If Angelo had picked McClellin, I would have been expecting to hear by training camp that kid has stage 4 cancer, is actually 5'2" 142 lbs, is a chick who played in a 7 - 0 defensive scheme who only rotated in on downs which were 3 and 34 yds + so is not expecting to play a down in the NFL until the sex change is complete and she puts on another 100 lbs. + but this is Emery's first pick so he'll get a pass with a bit of questioning. - 1060Ivy
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<!--quoteo(post=20422:date=Feb 26 2009, 12:16 AM:name=bz)-->QUOTE (bz @ Feb 26 2009, 12:16 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->I thought this was udderly boring and unfunny. I thought it didn't live up to its casting. I thought the script was great, but that was the only saving grace. Waste of time.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Udderly?
![[Image: udder02.jpg]](http://www.fosterdairy.com/milking/images/milking/udder02.jpg)
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<!--quoteo(post=20422:date=Feb 26 2009, 12:16 AM:name=bz)-->QUOTE (bz @ Feb 26 2009, 12:16 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->I thought this was udderly boring and unfunny. I thought it didn't live up to its casting. I thought the script was great, but that was the only saving grace. Waste of time.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
i tend to agree, but since i fell asleep before it ended, i'm willing to give it another shot. what i saw though was what you described.
Wang.
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I thought it was horrible. Couldn't get through it the first go round, gave it another shot after hearing all the praise here and it was just as bad the second go round.
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I'm really disappointed in all three of you. Udderly.
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<!--quoteo(post=20461:date=Feb 26 2009, 10:25 AM:name=Butcher)-->QUOTE (Butcher @ Feb 26 2009, 10:25 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->I'm really disappointed in all three of you. Udderly.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Thank you firefox autocorrect!
But really, the pacing was weird (not that I need uniform pacing), and didn't help the plot. And the plot was too contrived and uninteresting. There wasn't even the same type of Coen brothers charm. It just seemed...bleh.
The dialogue was great, though.
I didn't mind the ending. Cause it meant the movie was done, and I could stop watching.
If Angelo had picked McClellin, I would have been expecting to hear by training camp that kid has stage 4 cancer, is actually 5'2" 142 lbs, is a chick who played in a 7 - 0 defensive scheme who only rotated in on downs which were 3 and 34 yds + so is not expecting to play a down in the NFL until the sex change is complete and she puts on another 100 lbs. + but this is Emery's first pick so he'll get a pass with a bit of questioning. - 1060Ivy
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