The Film
Is it just me, or is it a little bit disappointing when filmmakers follow a Best Picture Oscar win with something less than stellar? No, it's not inevitable: I'm reminded of course of Wall Street, which for me was even more resonant than the Oliver Stone film which preceded it, the celebrated (and statue-copping) Platoon. The Coen Brothers have chosen to follow up No Country for Old Men with Burn, a rather self-indulgent, self-conscious dark comedy written specifically to the strengths of the actors they had in mind for the quirky roles of Washington, D.C. insiders and outsiders-looking-to-get-in.
When a bitter ex-CIA analyst (John Malkovich) loses a draft of his memoirs, the gym employees who find it (Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt) try blackmail then treason to make a few quick bucks. The analyst's wife (Tilda Swinton) is having an affair with a gun-toting, sex-crazed federal marshal (George Clooney) and before long, paths cross in unexpected and shocking ways. Despite the presence of many fine actors--three Academy Awards among them--the story never quite gels, and then it just sort of ends, but along the way we're given a healthy dose of Joel and Ethan's offbeat humor.
Check out Karen Dahlstrom's take on Burn After Reading here.
The Picture
There is a thin haze of film grain consistently over the entire 1.85:1 image, which is almost forgivable over broad, sheer areas like skies or smooth walls, but on faces with a lot of uneven nuance or surfaces with challenging textures (wood grain paneling for example) it becomes a problem, introducing a whole other level of noisiness. In one scene, Brad Pitt's fabled mug is busy around the edges with a distracting video twitch, but his more prominent nose and forehead are okay. Here again, a lot of attention is being paid to this No Country follow-up, so I'm surprised that the video transfer appears to have been approved so hastily. Other than that, the image is largely stable, with natural blacks.
The bass is wonderfully strong in the musical score by frequent collaborator Carter Burwell. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 displays an effortless realism with excellent dynamic range, characters speaking softly clearly understandable even at modest volume levels. There are a couple of potent gunshots and an interesting three-dimensional bit when George Clooney climbs up the stairs above us in one scene, but mostly this is just a very solid and very clean track, typically not the type we think about much while it's playing, which is probably for the best, right?
The Extras
Like most Coen Brothers discs, this one isn't exactly bursting with bonuses. "Finding the Burn" (five-and-a-half minutes, in high-definition) takes us behind-the-scenes of the film,
"DC Insiders Run Amuck" (twelve-and-a-half minutes, HD) brings us up close with the performers, and "Welcome Back George" (three minutes, HD) discusses the reunion of the Coens and their go-to "idiot" for this third outing together. All of these are comprised largely of on-set interviews. Also here is a tutorial on how to properly use the PlayStation 3 Dualshock 3 Wireless Controller with this and other Universal Blu-ray discs. This disc also supports BD-Live with the My Scenes feature that enables viewers to share favorite moments with their online Buddies.
Final Thoughts
Not their best comedy (Raising Arizona) and not likely to endear the same rabid devotion as The Big Lebowski found, Burn After Reading is nonetheless another head-scratching, smile-inducing R-rated romp from the Coens. The interviews do add further insight, although the picture definitely should have been clearer.
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