Review of Burn After Reading

Part of the Coen Brothers' genius is their versatility. They can take any seemingly hackneyed genre--film noir, dark comedy, cat-and-mouse drama--and add their own unique touch to make it instantly recognizable as their own brand. Continuing in the proud tradition of Fargo, Burn After Reading is a dark comedy filled with quirky characters, great yet goofy acting, and some unexpected murders. John Malkovich ("What the fuck?") plays the down-on-his-luck, pretentious protaganist to perfection. Never before has a guy so intent on writing a memoir that nobody will ever read been so lovable. His parts must have been written with him in mind. Brad Pitt also gives one of his best performances as the obtuse personal trainer who steals J-Malk's memoir, thus setting in action all the convoluted plot points that the movie revolves around. If you liked The Big Lebowski, you'll love Burn After Reading. Also, No Country for Old Men gets better every time I watch clips on YouTube. The villain was really messed up, yet easy to relate to. I can't think of a creepier hitman or serial killer. He didn't even need shtick, like a mask or a cool way to kill people. His naturally awesome creepiness was his shtick. Not many killers can pull that off. Also, you try writing a movie that maintains its suspense the whole time without any music. Quentin Tarantino's head would explode if he tried to do that.