Burn After Reading

Burn After Reading is a comedy that makes fun of almost everything, reminding you that almost none of it is laughing matter.

Although there are a couple of vaguely amusing moments, it fails as a comedy because it just isn't funny, and it fails as a thriller because it just isn't suspenseful and it fails as entertainment of any kind because it is all so ludicrously improbable.

It's morbidly absurdist, thoroughly pointless, and can certainly be funny at times.

It's surely old-hat by now to note the writer/directors' pervasive condescension and smugness, a criticism I don't think always holds true, especially when the Brothers more fully explore, e.g. The Man Who Wasn't There, their no less ubiquitous spi

The Coens are loopy stylists, and it's often amusing to watch this comedy of errors unfold. But after a masterpiece like No Country for Old Men, Burn After Reading is classified as disposable.

In setting up a spy thriller that, given the idiocy of its characters, just-so-happens to proceed like a comedy, the Coens’ best humorist qualities emerge after years of slumber, now well-rested and ready to play.

The Coen Brothers [return] to their comedic-crime roots... with engaging and ebullient results.

I know I am about to commit film critic heresy, but I found the film's overly clever story left me cold.

Learning a valuable lesson isn't a necessary component in being highly entertained.