Street Style

Burn Baby Burn

The world of spies, plastic surgery and internet dating collide in a fast-paced tumble-set in the intelligence capital of the world, Washington D.C, and Big Brothers Coen are watching…

Joel and Ethan Coen, known colloquially as The Coen Brothers, have been creating left of Hollywood cinema for over 20 years. Jacks of all trades, the brothers write, direct, produce, edit and even wield camera’s in their productions. Their latest offering, Burn After Reading, is a spy film rife with grim pleasure. Cranking up the pace from their last offering, the multi-Oscar-winning No Country for Old Men, the storyline and character idiosyncrasies don’t relent, making twists and turns that would leave even the figure eight giddy.

One of the principal reasons to see the film is the stellar cast: George Clooney (a Coen-film regular), Frances McDormand (a nip of nepotism here but she’s a goodie), Brad Pitt (do you need a reason?), John Malkovich (even his teeth can act), and numerous other familiar and worthy faces.

Similar to their other black comedies, particularly The Big Lebowski and Raising Arizona, the plot is thick with oddball characters, ridiculous coincidences, bumbling idiots and lotsa swearing…Add some intrigue and “the Russians”, and all stops are pulled out.

In a nutshell, Chad (Brad Pitt) and Linda (Frances McDormand) are gym instructors at Hardbodies Fitness Centre where a disc containing highly sensitive CIA data is found. Desperate to secure funds for plastic surgery that will help her find love on Internet dating sites, Linda, with the aid of her air-headed but loyal buddy, Chad, attempts to blackmail the owner of the information, Osbourne Fox (Malkovich).

Mayhem, mishaps and murder ensues with the Coens’ trademark noir humour permeating the realm of spy culture. Clooney’s character, Harry, adds perfect comic relief as the egotistical and paranoid treasury office employee having an affair with Fox’s wife. His ‘invention’ will have you in stitches.

The cinematography is snappy and precise with no languishing or extraneous shots sought or needed. It’s a departure from style in some respects, and the pace of editing keeps the film racing along. It’s also evident the seasoned actors are having a bloody brilliant time as they ham it up for the cameras.

The dialogue is zippy and the overwhelming oddity of this film will leave you feeling slightly disorientated, but hey, it’s the Coens… Like No Country for Old Men, I felt the ending was rather abrupt and could have been rounded off in a more satisfying manner, however all is forgiven when you are engaged by the trademark witty dialogue and screws-loose characters.

Touted as the next Coen project is a film script entitled “Suburbicon” which will be directed in 2009 by Clooney.

Image by altemark