Movie Review: Burn After Reading

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I have never been so torn about a movie in my life! With big name stars such as George Clooney (yum), Brad Pitt (daddy yum) and John Malkovich, I felt sure that this would be a great movie. The previews I saw on t.v. looked very promising and Brad Pitt’s part looked hilarious. The movie, I believe, was intended as a comedic thriller spoof on the CIA type of movie. I’m not sure how close to the mark they came, but here goes.

There were so many “gotcha!” moments in the movie that I cannot even really put to words my shock level for some scenes. Not a goody two shoes shock, just a general “oh my God, did that just happen?” or “is that what I think it is?!?” On one hand, the movie has a bunch of random events that were all somewhat connected and left the viewer with an on purpose feeling of “what the heck?” On the other hand, you can’t quit watching the movie because you are morbidly curious to see what happens next (kind of like Pulp Fiction).

Will I watch the movie again? No. Will I recommend it to friends? No. Will I become engrossed in conversation with other people that have seen the movie? Probably. So this one gets neither a thumbs up or thumbs down from me. I will say that each actor in the film did superb. They are the actors, not the writers, so whatever was missing in the movie, I wouldn’t blame them per se. There are moments of awkwardness, hilarity, and shock sprinkled throughout, but the ebb and flow between all of those items was missing.

Not the best way to spend a Saturday night, but not the worst either.