Burn After Reading - Review

This is one of the most bizarre movies I have ever seen. On the one hand, I'm sitting there watching this and can't comprehend what I am watching. It seemed like The Coen Brothers had simply written scenes together to showcase how great it's actors were. "Hey look, we have George Clooney monologuing with Tilda Swinton." Introduce a bunch of random characters that weren't tied together and I was completely dumbfounded. "Why am I watching this? Everyone is stupid!"... then it clicked and I saw what the film was trying to do. This film is about how stupid and not thinking things through can tangle a giant web of chaos and mayhem and what is the lesson? The film doesn't even know. Each of these characters is extremely pathetic and yet so charming. All of their interactions are hilarious in the most random way possible. This film challenges us to question people of authority. Sure, some of these characters work for the CIA and yet still, they are as dumb as any of us. Sure, some troll might tell you this is racist towards white people... which I mean, sure, you could say that, but it doesn't shine a light on the particular race of the characters. This film creates a pool of stupidity and a void of intelligence so large that you can't help but follow these characters in to see how far their low IQ will take them. It's oddly fascinating because I could see people not liking this movie because of it's pathetic characters and somewhat lack of a flowing narrative similar to a protagonist's arc, but, in one moment, it clicked and I understood what the Coen Brothers were trying to do. It's dumb, it's hilarious, it's profound, it's thought-provoking, it's stupid, and it's great. What a unique film that impacted me in a way that not many films do. A refreshing time at the movies that should be given at least one viewing if you're tired of the standard formula and want something that resembles a blender full of mixed genres and random story point that will have an after taste for quite a while!