AltWeeklies Wire
'Burn After Reading' is a Coen Brothers Comedy Classicnew
The brothers have complete control, an impeccable crew and some of the best actors in the business, all seemingly having the time of their lives. The result is a blast on par with their Raising Arizona and The Big Lebowski.
Tucson Weekly |
Bob Grimm |
09-18-2008 |
Reviews
After 'No Country,' 'Burn After Reading' is a Letdownnew
What does a lackluster project matter, coming off four Academy Awards and a devout fan base? Like Wal-Mart and obesity, the Coens are an American institution with no chance of going away despite anyone's protests.
Charleston City Paper |
Felicia Feaster |
09-17-2008 |
Reviews
'Burn After Reading': Coenfederacy of Duncesnew
In any case, Burn After Reading, the new comedy from Joel and Ethan Coen, is well-titled. It's fair to call it a grim farce about vanity in an age of constant surveillance, but that might imply more ambition than does the movie itself.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Jonathan Kiefer |
09-16-2008 |
Reviews
'Burn After Reading' Has No Story Linenew
That's the joke of the film: There is no point.
Baltimore City Paper |
Cole Haddon |
09-16-2008 |
Reviews
The Coen Brothers Switch It Up for Their 'No Country' Follow-upnew
At first blush, Joel and Ethan Coen's high-grade farce Burn After Reading feels like an abrupt, if not unwelcome, about-face from the moral sobriety of No Country for Old Men.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Sam Adams |
09-16-2008 |
Reviews
'Burn After Reading' is Screwball Black Comedynew
The Coen brothers may be masters of black comedy, but there are times when there's no point in taking them seriously.
Austin Chronicle |
Josh Rosenblatt |
09-12-2008 |
Reviews
First Shot: 'Burn After Reading'new
Everything's a movie these days, even stuff that isn't.
Orlando Weekly |
Steve Schneider |
09-12-2008 |
Reviews
'Burn After Reading' Misfiresnew
The Coens' latest is a disappointing follow-up to No Country for Old Men.
Montreal Mirror |
Mark Slutsky |
09-12-2008 |
Reviews
'Burn After Reading': The Coens Serve Up Laughs
The writing/directing team of Joel and Ethan Coen create a laugh-a-minute black comedy that pokes fun at America's surveillance-dominated existence, plastic surgery desires, and all out greed.
The Coen Brothers' Love of Idiosyncrasy is at Its Best in This America-skewering Farcenew
Burn After Reading is a pie-in-the-face comedy. You don't know what hit you until it's over.
New York Press |
Armond White |
09-11-2008 |
Reviews
'Burn After Reading': A Country for Ridiculous Mennew
Burn After Reading hearkens back to Coen classics Oh Brother Where Art Thou and The Big Lebowski, films propelled inexorably forward by bizarre characters and slashing humor.
The Coen Brothers' Latest is an Entertaining Triflenew
Burn After Reading's madcap tone recalls Coen projects like The Big Lebowski and O Brother, Where Art Thou?, although it doesn’t reach the heights of sublime absurdity that those movies (especially Lebowski) achieved.
Las Vegas Weekly |
Josh Bell |
09-11-2008 |
Reviews
'Burn After Reading' is No Lebowskinew
The writing is as solid as you'd hope, though the humor in this story of two bumbling gym employees who accidentally blackmail an ex-CIA agent and immediately get in over their heads with national-security heavies is mostly dry, situational, and low-key.
San Antonio Current |
Jeremy Martin |
09-10-2008 |
Reviews
The Coens Tighten the Beltwaynew
Burn After Reading, the subversive new comedy from Joel and Ethan Coen, prowls around the corridors of CIA headquarters at Langley, but it isn’t ideological either, unless you consider a despairing cackle an ideology.
Willamette Week |
Aaron Mesh |
09-10-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
'Burn After Reading': Great Expectations
Don't hate on Burn After Reading for being a merely good Coen brothers movie.
Salt Lake City Weekly |
Scott Renshaw |
09-09-2008 |
Reviews
