Burn After Reading (2008)
Comedy, Crime, Drama |.
Burn After Reading is a black comedy crime film written, produced, edited, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. It follows a recently jobless CIA analyst whose misplaced memoirs are found by a pair of dimwitted gym employees, crossing paths with a womanising US Marshal, also starring Tilda Swinton, Richard Jenkins and J.K. Simmons. The film had its premiere on August 27, 2008, opening at the 2008 Venice Film Festival. It was released in the United States on September 12, 2008, and in the United Kingdom on October 17, 2008. It did well at the box office, grossing over $168 million from its $37 million budget. Critical response was mostly positive, with nominations at both the Golden Globes and the BAFTA awards.
Faced with a demotion at work due to an alleged drinking problem, Osbourne “Ozzie” Cox angrily quits his job as a CIA analyst and decides to write a memoir. When his pediatrician wife Katie finds out, she sees it as an opportunity to file for divorce and continue her affair with Harry Pfarrer, a married U.S. Marshal.
At the instructions of her lawyer, Katie copies and delivers her husband’s financial records and other files, including, unbeknownst to her, the draft of Ozzie’s memoir. The lawyer’s assistant copies the files onto a CD, which she accidentally leaves on the locker room floor of Hardbodies, a local gym. The disc falls into the hands of dim-witted personal trainer Chad Feldheimer and his co-worker Linda Litzke, who mistakenly believe it to contain sensitive government information.
Chad devises a plan to return the disc to Ozzie for a cash reward, with Linda seeing this as a quick solution to come up with money to pay for cosmetic surgery she’d been scheming in vain to afford. After a phone call and subsequent meeting with Osbourne provoke his furious reaction, Chad and Linda try to sell the disc to the Russian embassy.
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Writers: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Stars: Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, George Clooney, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, Richard Jenkins, Elizabeth Marvel
►Cast:
| George Clooney | … | Harry Pfarrer |
| Frances McDormand | … | Linda Litzke |
| Brad Pitt | … | Chad Feldheimer |
| John Malkovich | … | Osborne Cox |
| Tilda Swinton | … | Katie Cox |
| Richard Jenkins | … | Ted |
| Elizabeth Marvel | … | Sandy Pfarrer |
| David Rasche | … | CIA Officer Palmer DeBakey Smith |
| J.K. Simmons | … | CIA Superior (as JK Simmons) |
| Olek Krupa | … | Krapotkin |
| Michael Countryman | … | Alan |
| Kevin Sussman | … | Tuchman Marsh Man |
| J.R. Horne | … | Divorce Lawyer (as JR Horne) |
| Hamilton Clancy | … | Peck |
| Armand Schultz | … | Olson |
| Pun Bandhu | … | Party Guest |
| Karla Mosley | … | Party Guest |
| Jeffrey DeMunn | … | Cosmetic Surgeon |
| Richard Poe | … | Stretching Gym Patron |
| Carmen M. Herlihy | … | Prospective Gym Customer |
| Raul Aranas | … | Manolo (as Raul Arañas) |
| Judy Frank | … | Lawyer’s Secretary |
| Sándor Técsy | … | Russian Embassy Escort (as Sandor Tecsy) |
| Yury Tsykun | … | Senior Russian Embassy Man |
| Brian O’Neill | … | Hal |
| Robert Prescott | … | Process Server |
| Matt Walton | … | Morning Show Host |
| Lori Hammel | … | Morning Show Hostess |
| Crystal Bock | … | PR Woman |
| Patrick Boll | … | Sandy’s Man |
| Logan Kulick | … | Four-Year-Old Patient |
| Dermot Mulroney | … | Star of “Coming Up Daisy” |
| Robert R. Barry | … | Drunken Princetonian |
| Ted Bouton | … | Drunken Princetonian |
| Bob Bowersox | … | Drunken Princetonian |
| Oliver Buckingham | … | Drunken Princetonian |
| Michael Fawcett | … | Drunken Princetonian |
| William Fowle | … | Drunken Princetonian |
| Charles Gemmill | … | Drunken Princetonian |
| Mitch Giannunzio | … | Drunken Princetonian |
| Cliff Goulet | … | Drunken Princetonian |
| William D. Grey | … | Drunken Princetonian |
| Gary Henderson | … | Drunken Princetonian |
| Ron Kidd | … | Drunken Princetonian |
| Bill Massof | … | Drunken Princetonian |
| Brian McKeon | … | Drunken Princetonian |
| Ken McNeill | … | Drunken Princetonian |
| Tim Miller | … | Drunken Princetonian |
| Jay Parks | … | Drunken Princetonian |
| Roger Rathburn | … | Drunken Princetonian |
| Eric Richardson | … | Drunken Princetonian |
| Bart Wilder | … | Drunken Princetonian |
| James Thomas Bligh | … | Lt. Macdonald |
| Matt Cannon | … | Tourist |
| Patricia DiZebba | … | Jogger |
| Justin Doescher | … | Suspicious Man |
| Kimberly Dorsey | … | Tourist |
| Liam Ferguson | … | Businessman |
| Joe Jagatic | … | CIA Agent |
| Richard Karn | … | Self – Family Feud Host (archive footage) |
| RJ Konner | … | Senator |
| T. Alloy Langenfeld | … | Nam Vet Visiting WWII Memorial |
| Mike Monroe | … | Tourist |
| Kevin Kean Murphy | … | The Witness |
| Douglas Nelson | … | Man in Park |
| Vito Pietanza | … | Runner |
| Devin Rumer | … | Surveillance Man |
| Kenny Shapiro | … | Driver |
| Patrick Michael Strange | … | Tourist |
| Kevin Tan | … | Suspicious Tourist – Day Player |
| Jacqueline Wright | … | Monica |
Sources: imdb & wikipedia
