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Burn After Reading

Burn After Reading

Comedy · Drama · 2008

When a disc containing memoirs of a former CIA analyst falls into the hands of gym employees, Linda and Chad, they see a chance to make enough money for Linda to have life-changing cosmetic surgery. Predictably, events whirl out of control for the duo, and those in their orbit.

Movie details

Burn After Reading

“Intelligence is relative.”

2008 Comedy · Drama 1h 36m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

7.0 / 10

373.9K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

78 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

63 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

6.7 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

When a disc containing memoirs of a former CIA analyst falls into the hands of gym employees, Linda and Chad, they see a chance to make enough money for Linda to have life-changing cosmetic surgery. Predictably, events whirl out of control for the duo, and those in their orbit.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Burn After Reading?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Ethan Coen · Joel Coen

Written by

Joel Coen · Ethan Coen

George Clooney

George Clooney

Harry Pfarrer

Frances McDormand

Frances McDormand

Linda Litzke

Brad Pitt

Brad Pitt

Chad Feldheimer

John Malkovich

John Malkovich

Osborne Cox

Tilda Swinton

Tilda Swinton

Katie Cox

Richard Jenkins

Richard Jenkins

Ted

Elizabeth Marvel

Elizabeth Marvel

Sandy Pfarrer

Court is in session

Put Burn After Reading on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.