Burn After Reading

"Burn After Reading is ridiculous and funny. A fantastic combo."

"A characteristically supercilious and crisply shot clown show..."

"The clubby, predictably self-amused comedy from Joel and Ethan Coen, has a tricky plot, visual style, er, to burn, but little heart."

"For dark laughs and hurtling narrative momentum this spy caper is their best work since Fargo."

"Forget After Seeing..."

"The whole thing is a triumphant exercise in the art of silliness for its own sake."

"Glib, unfunny, patronising: take your pick."

"Halfway between a good Coen brothers movie and a terrible Coen brothers movie."

"Nothing about the project's execution inspires the feeling that this was ever intended as anything more than a lark, which would be fine if it were a good one. As it is, audience teeth-grinding sets in early and never lets up."

"It would be no country for movie lovers without the Coens. They still manage to run unmuzzled while the rest of Hollywood runs scared."

"The characters are zany, the plot coils upon itself with dizzy zeal, and the roles seem like a perfect fit for the actors -- yes, even Brad Pitt, as Chad, a gum-chewing, fuzzy-headed physical fitness instructor. I've always thought of him as a fine actor, but here he reveals a dimension that, shall I say, we haven't seen before."

"Black comedy's farce elements are overwhelmed by the absence of a single likeable character."

"Because it's a Coen brothers film before it's anything else, this is about as dark and nihilistic as comedies are allowed to get before the laughter dies bitterly on your lips."

"Joel and Ethan Coen clearly are in a prankish mood, knocking out a minor piece of silliness with all the trappings of an A-list studio movie."

"If "No Country For Old Men" was vintage port, Burn After Reading is a shot of tequila: eye watering and hard to swallow, but the after-effect is terrific."