There were too many dead spots for me to really get into it. It has some great scenes (Pitt and Simmon's are hilarious), amazing light work, and the rest of the cast each get a good moment or two. I just never felt like I was watching a great movie. I think it'll grow on me after a few dozen viewings on cable, but for now B-.

Edit: already bumping it up to a B. It had a lot of great scenes that have stuck with me.

Here is a link to my full review...

http://nevadasagebrush.com/blog/2008/09/16/burn-after-reading-is-hilarious/

That's a good review, and I agree with many of the points you make. It's a very weird and nonsensical movie, but that's why I enjoyed the hell out of it.

Thanks Webslinger! It really is such a unique movie, it is kinda hard not to like (well Loyal Zingaling excluded...). I just read your review for the Dark Knight and thought it was really well written. You should do more!

I don't care to write a long review like I did over at Filmgasm, but this movie was horrible.


D+

a bit disappointed. My expectations were probably too high. Everyone acted great in it, the ending with J.K. was hilarious but the story just didn't run as well as I had hoped. This is no Lebowski.

B

Feel the same way... It was like the movie had no point whatsoever, i dont know. Its OK i guess.

C+

Still the year's best comedy... and there was a lot of winners this summer

what a boring piece of shit, I expected better

D

BJs Grade:

F

wheres the entertainment, really, where is it. The movie fuckin sucked way fuckin bad, unfuckinbearable.

Took a 'too long' time to find its tone and..err.. tune. But when it got there, that's when you have a witty, hilarious dark comedy. Coen Brothers are still good at telling the odd story in the very unique yet entertaining way. It's just the story itself that was less intriguing than the Coen storytelling. I found nothing special amongst the casts though.

B+

I like it less and less the more I think about it. Pitt was great in his few little scenes, but the rest was extremely blah. D+

I liked it, didn't love it. I laughed often and frequently, but I felt it really coasted to a stop instead of crescendoing after that brilliant encounter between Malkovich and Jenkins. That rather ruined it for me.

Still, lots of great performances, a clever script, and some terrific jokes. I loved how everything in the film, from the camerawork to the score to the opening credits, was playing on spy film conventions, and I think it all pretty much worked. I'd say it's probably my second favourite comedy of the year, after In Bruges.

Yay, love to see some hate from DIB2 and BJ for this movie... it deserves it.

Lesser Coen...

2 out of 5.

7/10 -> B-

The first half of the movie is easily disposable. The setup could've been much more smoother than it was. But somewhere from midpoint the movie starts to roll and puts out one goofy situation after another. They're pretty hit and miss, but I have to say some of those made me laugh really hard. Especially Pitt's death. That was the most shocking/awing/laughing one.

I can't say I like he charaters. Something was just wrong with them and they seemed too cartoony. I can't imagine all of the actors would drop the ball, so I blame Coens for that. Maybe they made a mistake, or the characters didn't come off as they should have, but based on the potential of these characters this could've been an inconic Coen piece. Unfortunately it falls short. And by a wide margin.

The thing I liked the most was the score. That theme in the beginning and the ending of the movie is brilliant.

Wow. I haven't seen this but the grades are all over the place.
Majority are Bs and Ds though.

I graded it B, but it's really a B+. Funniest movie I've seen this year. Weird,
yes, but very funny. I loved the CIA summations. There were a couple dead,
spots, and there's really no point, so it doesn't get into A range, but very
entertaining.

I thought this was really funny. Every actor does a great job (George Clooney ams up the sleaze, John Malkovich is his typical self, Frances McDormand is delightful, Brad Pitt is wonderfully moronic, Tilda Swinton is exceedingly bitchy). The funniest scenes might actually be the conversations between the CIA honchos, in which they demonstrate that everyone else in the movie is kind of an idiot. Heh. An enjoyable time courtesy of the Coens, for sure. B+

Not disappointing at all. It was better than I expected. I loved this one. It was very funny and highly entertaining.

8/10 (A-)

After a re-watch on DVD, it is now my favorite comedy of the year, somehow surpassing my undyling love for Tropic Thunder. It is just such a rare case that a really well made movie comes along that doesn't ask anything of the audience except to sit back and enjoy the actors work. Honestly, even though there is no story, i am sure this will be near the top of my top 5 screenplays of the year. Also this is definitely my favorite Coen Brothers movie and favorite Pitt performance.

Up from an A- to a solid A and probably in my top 50 of all time.

Watched it again, and it held up even better, but there's definitely a sense that it coasts to a stop instead of really going somewhere with its build-up. There should've been more after that brilliant Malkovich/Jenkins encounter.

Still hilarious, though, and a lot more clever than it gets credit for. Second best comedy of the year, after In Bruges.

I agree, its only flaw is that it is too short.

A-

Great comedy, the cast was great.