 BURN AFTER READING  Studio: Universal (released via Focus Features) Original Release: 2008 Length: 1 hour 36 mins Genre: Comedy/Coen Brothers Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen Color/B&W: Color Audio: |
Release Date: December 21, 2008 Rating: 2 ½  ½Starring: George Clooney, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, Richard Jenkins and Brad Pitt with cameos by David Rasche and J.K. Simmons Written, Produced and Directed by: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen Burn After Reading is the Coen brother’s follow-up to last year’s Best Picture, No Country For Old Men. As such, it’s a complete change of pace, returning them to more familiar territory. The characters here, mostly written specifically for this cast, are a group of middle-aged (and older) people who think they are smarter than they really are, and whose ineptitude gets them into a series of criss-crossing capers and hijinks. There really isn’t any more to the movie than that – it’s certainly not a spy caper, regardless of the advertising. It’s essentially a mousetrap, where the characters get repeatedly stuck while trying to grab the cheese the Coen brothers wave at them. This isn’t to say the movie isn’t fun. On the contrary, there’s a lot of fun here, mostly in watching Brad Pitt and George Clooney embrace their inner goofballs, and in watching John Malkovich embrace the futile rage of his character. There are some funny scenes along the way, and the Coen brothers thankfully refrain from getting too showy with their cameras. But like the ashes of the title material, the material here will fade from your memory rather quickly after you eject the DVD.  VIDEO QUALITY: 3/5 Burn After Reading is presented in a bright anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen transfer that shows accurate flesh tones and detail throughout. Black levels look solid, and textures of everything from the wardrobe to the diverse locations come through nicely. Like the film itself, it’s not showy – but it works very well. AUDIO QUALITY: 3/5 Burn After Reading is presented in a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix in English and French that locates most of the sound in the front channels. The surround channels get a mixture of music and some atmospheric sounds, but the emphasis goes toward the front of the room. (This is understandable, given that the focus in the film is in the dialogue and the characterizations, rather than from the locations or atmospheric effects.) SPECIAL FEATURES: 2 ½/5 ½ Burn After Reading comes with three featurettes, totalling under 22 minutes. They’re fun to watch and they do give a pretty good picture of what it’s like to work with the Coen Brothers, but there’s nothing in depth here. On the other hand, it’s entirely possible to watch the whole movie and the special features in about 2 hours.
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