Burn before watching

What the fuck did I just watch? And what was the point in it?
More importantly, why did I feel the need to turn it off after 55 minutes?

Burn After Reading is the newest film by the Coen brothers. Notorius for their black comedy, of sorts, this film falls down at the hurdle that their previous films have hopped so majestically...being funny. Not funny haha funny, but quirky funny, odd funny. Often the dialogue doesn't carry the film, much like Tarantino, and certain conversation are more about builing rapport with the characters than actually moving the film forward. Their dialogue is often witty, intelligent and littered with farse, but much of the banter in BAR is more Farrelly Brothers than Coen Brothers. Coen's films also feature heavy North-By-Northwest misunderstandings, and mistaken identies. This film contains them, but I'd like to see something fresh. You can see from the outset what is going to happen.

The gist of the film is that a team member at a gym finds the memoirs of an ex-CIA analyst, and mistakes it for classified government information. Then the spiral downwards brings death, divorce and dramatic irony.

Burn After Reading takes 40 minutes before anything happens. I HATE Tilda Swinton in this film, she is two-dimensional, predictable and a terrible actress. Brad Pitt has his turn as a Brad Pitt Idiot, and he is good at playing an idiot, but this is bad. And not bad ghetto bad, but bad Lindsay Lohan bad. I'd expect it from a SNL sketch, but to scatter it through an whole film is just...dire. George Clooney plays an adulterous, OCD and allergy ridden ex-Homeland Security agent, who probably gives the only good male performance in the film. Frances McDormand is excellent, she's a treat and gives everything you want and expect from a Coen Brothers performance.

I've decided to watch the rest of the film, and it does get a little better. The paranoia increases and the film climaxes well, but it doesn't stop it from being predictable.

This film is a DVD collection addition, IF you have all the other Coen movies, because it'd be a shame to break the collection. It's nothing but a dissappointment.

p.s. if you giggle at Brad Pitt, be guilty.