Burn After Reading (2008)

Burn After Reading rating: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic

IMDb7/10· 374K votes

Rotten Tomatoes78%

Metacritic63%

TMDb6.673/10· 5K votes

With 78% on Rotten Tomatoes, backed by 7/10 on IMDb and 63/100 on Metacritic, critical reception of this film has been positive.

About Burn After Reading

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.

Cast of Burn After Reading

• 

  George Clooney

  as Harry Pfarrer

• 

  Frances McDormand

  as Linda Litzke

• 

  Brad Pitt

  as Chad Feldheimer

• 

  John Malkovich

  as Osborne Cox

• 

  Tilda Swinton

  as Katie Cox

• 

  Richard Jenkins

  as Ted

• 

  Elizabeth Marvel

  as Sandy Pfarrer

• 

  David Rasche

  as CIA Officer

• 

  J.K. Simmons

  as CIA Superior

• 

  Olek Krupa

  as Krapotkin

• 

  Michael Countryman

  as Alan

• 

  Kevin Sussman

  as Tuchman Marsh Man

Burn After Reading facts

Budget

$37M

Box office

$163.7M

Our take on Burn After Reading

The Coen brothers turn a lost disc of a former CIA analyst's memoirs into the trigger for a spiral of greed and stupidity. When two gym employees, Linda and Chad, get hold of it, they hatch a clumsy scheme to cash in, hoping to fund Linda's dream of cosmetic surgery. What should be simple curdles fast, dragging everyone in their orbit into an escalating mess. It's a dark comedy of errors where nobody is quite as clever as they think, and every bad decision compounds the last. Suited to viewers who like their humor bleak and mordant, populated by self-absorbed characters, and who appreciate a story that finds bleak farce in human foolishness.