For fans of comedy, Burn After Reading seems to be a movie that people either really love, or really hate. While this movie certainly does not contain the slapstick or laugh out loud humour you might find in other comedy-billed movies such as The Hangover or Death at a Funeral, the subtle ironic dialogue, wonderfully dark humour and the hilarious jabs at American suburban culture makes Burn After Reading a film which definitely appeals to a more adult audience. Fans of the Coen Brothers will appreciate the clever script and trademark dry humour and witty one-liners though, as much like the brothers’ other comedies including Intolerable Cruelty or O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the humour is very subtle, but also very satirical and uproariously funny. The casting is exceptional in this film, and as far as performances go, Brad Pitt and John Malkovich really make some of the best scenes in the movie. It is not just the ensemble cast that makes this film so enjoyable to watch however, but also the insanely clever script. In fact, each scene is filled with so much sarcastic wit and irony that you may often miss the subtle humour portrayed by the character. The sheer stupidity of each character just keeps amalgamating until the final climax of the movie, and it is without a doubt the end scene that sums up the entire absurdity and hilarity of the film’s in general.

Burn After Reading starts off with an extremely amusing opening scene featuring CIA agent Osbourne Cox (John Malkovich) getting a lecture on his drinking problem and a lower clearance at his office. Disgruntled, he quits and begins writing a memoir on his life as a CIA agent, much to his wife Katie’s (Tilda Swinton) disbelief (and cynicism)! While Osbourne is portrayed as an unsuccessful deadweight, Katie is the unemotional conniving bitch who seems to always get what she wants. In the wake of Ozzy quitting his job, she organizes for a top hard-ass lawyer to handle her pending divorce papers so she can be with her boyfriend Harry (George Clooney), who portrays a womanising dweeb. Although he is having an affair with Katie, he is clearly just in a rut with his wife and kind of wants to make things work – in typical male fashion of course. Unbeknownst to Harry however, his wife Sandy is also cheating on him during her book tours out of town. It is through this web of affairs and relationship problems that the plot really unfolds, when Katie burns all of their financial information onto a CD including Ozzy’s memoir so she can gain as much as she can from her planned divorce. Three bumbling gym trainers, Linda (Frances McDormand), Chad (Brad Pitt) and Ted (Richard Jenkins) happen to find these files however, when a copy of the CD is found in Katie’s lawyers’ secretary’s gym bag in the locker rooms. What ensues is a series of ridiculous and hysterical interweaving of events, which not only leads Linda and Chad in talks with the Russian embassy armed with the CD, but a shockingly extreme climactic ending which sees an intense and ludicrous end to all characters involved in the “clusterfuck”, as J.K. Simmons puts so eloquently.

The actors really make the most of an intensely funny and sarcastic script, which mocks just about everyone from airhead gym trainers to top CIA officers. The efficient cross cutting between the different character developments and their entangled affairs with each other’s problems and issues is part of the main reason why this film is so intruiging, and the eventual climax which sees just about all the characters coming together and relating to each other some way in accordance to Ozzy’s failed memoir makes Burn After Reading truly entertaining to watch.

Brad Pitt surely must be one of the most underrated comedic actors today, as he pulls off a superb comedic performance in this movie as Chad. The stereotypical “all buff, no brain” demeanour is one of the most entertaining traits of his character, and it is undoubtedly his phonecall to Ozzy in the middle of the night, as well as his brief exchange with him in Ozzy’s car that are the most memorable scenes of the movie. His break in into Ozzy’s house and climactic showdown with Harry also marks the most extreme turning point of the movie, and it is truly so shocking and so dark that initially, you don’t even know if you should laugh or not!

John Malkovich is also remarkable as Ozzy, and it is often quite funny/sad to see his dreams being shot down by everyone including his wife. Kevin Sussman makes a short but brief appearance as Harry’s stalker (AKA the man employed by Tuchman Marsh), and does such a fantastic job as the innocent stalker employed by Sandy’s hired divorce company that his scene is also very memorable.

The dialogue in this film is overall so sardonic towards America and its culture in general, that every wry, sarcastic line may be referred to the intense scrutiny of America’s questionable subculture and its inhabitants. The irony contained in the dialogue is part of why Burn After Reading is SO incredibly funny – the fact that each character “seem to all be sleeping with each other” just highlights how absolutely ridiculous the entire movie is. Harry’s discovery of his wife’s affair, as well as Harry’s worry of Ozzy being “trapped” in his marriage/divorce is just one example of the fine humour the Coen Brothers utilize to help mock American suburbia, and the American dream. Linda’s obsession with plastic surgery and the desire to look perfect is also incredibly amusing – she rationalizes that she works in a gym which is all about appearance, so she obviously really needs that tummy tuck and operation to get rid of the vaccine mark on her arm!

Every scene and every character is so well written, Burn After Reading is unquestionably worthy of getting on DVD just because it is so watchable and amusing. It definitely improves with each viewing, and it is interesting to dismantle just how this movie is contructed and how each character relates to each other.

You really got to hand it to the Coen brothers – a combination of A-list actors, smart dialogue and trademark humour makes this another classic to add to their credits. A movie as dark and funny as Burn After Reading is hard to come by, so much so this film really does make you appreciate how a comedy such as this can evoke such thought and opinion. While the plot may confuse some, and puzzle others, lovers of dark comedy will undoubtedly appreciate how this film uses the extremities of violence, job losses, death and marriage breakdowns to emphasize how we are all most probably trapped in the same cycle of deceit, espionage and incredulity in our own lives!

Coming from a director who has brought us such cinematic classics including Hollow Man, RoboCop and Basic Instinct (take from this statement what you will…), viewing Black Book is like viewing a whole other dimension through Paul Verhoeven’s eyes. Not only is this film entirely in Dutch, the 2 hour long marathon of a film seems to fit so much action into its timeline, it hardly even feels long at all! It does however contain some elements of his trademark, and although there are several unrealistic and eyebrow-raising scenes, the content and entertainment value really sets this apart from other World War II films.

Released in 2006, it was at the time, the most expensive Dutch production and also one of the most praised movies in the public and critics alike. For those who hate viewing movies with subs, beware, for this movie was not dubbed in English! It is not hard to see why this film has been one of the more successful World War II movies though – amongst the thousands of others that have been made, I think it’s safe to say this film really has the right amount of action, romance and plot twists to keep it chugging along nicely through to the end.

With a plot similar to that of Lust, Caution, Black Book begins with a flashback to main character Rachel, who is teaching at a school somewhere in Israel. On a chance occasion, she meets a former acquaintance, Ronnie, who she knew when she was a spy during World War II. The two strike a conversation, and after a brief exchange, Rachel reminisces about how she became an orphan in a German ambush, and how she became a spy for the underground resistance against the Nazis.

Through many often unrealistic and exaggerated turns of events, Rachel discovers others who are in the same position as her and quickly becomes a secret spy for the resistance. Armed with a bottle of peroxide, Rachel becomes Ellis de Vries – a smart and beautiful faux German who eventually infiltrates the local SS office as a secretary. Her mission? To seduce the commander Ludwig Muntze, and to obtain inside information so the resistance can break several members of their clan free from the evil clutches of the SS prison. Rachel has an ulterior motive however – she is determined to find out who tipped off the ambush that killed all of her family, and she wants them DEAD.

Rachel of course, falls in love with Muntze during her secret spy duties, and although he does indicate he knows she is in fact Jewish through her obviously bad dye job, he keeps it on the downlow because it seems he too, has fallen in love with her. Rachel also meets Ronnie through Muntze, who she learns is also an American spy, acting as a complete sex crazed airhead who teases just about every lad in the SS to obtain information!

When Rachel finds out the mole that killed her family and tips off the Germans, members of the resistance kidnap him and in a scuffle accidentally kill him. This sets off a chain of extraordinary events that eventually leads to a death penalty for Muntze, and Ellis in a prison where she is humiliated and tortured. It is not just the tragic separation of the two lovers that is the main crux of the story, but the plot twist at the end that will leave viewers confused and perhaps even slightly shocked.

Black Book may have a considerably convoluted storyline and lots of gratuitous violence and nudity, but it is indeed a film that both entertains and makes several points about World War II in general. Carice Van Houten is simply stunning as Rachel, and Thom Hoffman acts superbly as a sneaky, villainous leader of the resistance.

One of the most notable aspects of this film is just how incredibly unrealistic it actually is though – you do have to just let the film do the talking and suspend your disbelief for ~2 hours! While the ambush at the start was quite extreme and fairly plausible, the plot twists including the killing of the Jew spy in broad daylight and Rachel and Muntze’s break out of prison just adds to the overall over exaggeration of this movie. It does not by any means take itself too seriously, which is perhaps why this film is so enjoyable as a whole.

While its not the most insightful World War II thriller, nor is it the most thought provoking, Black Book does raise some questions as to what is considered right or wrong during times of war. With Rachel’s constant conflictions within herself over her loyalties to her family, the resistance and her love for Muntze, Verhoeven does an impressive job of handling Rachel’s choices and portraying them in a way which emphasizes how hard it is to judge each aspect of the war.

Noted for its big budget, Black Book’s cinematography is also visually stunning: each scene is filled with different elements which really draws you into what is happening, and what each character is saying. In particular, the shot style and lighting of the extravagant gala held by the SS near the end of the film really highlights the tone and foreshadowing of the rest of the movie, as it is the penultimate point where Rachel and Muntze meet up one last time before they separate…forever. The use of long shots is particularly useful in highlighting the beauty of the Dutch countryside, and the ravages of war against the greenery, which I thought was a nice touch in the film especially at the end scene.

The music in this film is also another feature that enables the viewer to fully appreciate the turn of events and constant action. This movie may be a far cry from the likes of Total Recall or Basic Instinct but the rapid car chase that leads to the resistance members being arrested, and the shootout ambush at the start really lends itself to the awesome directing skills of Paul Verhoeven.

Overall, Black Book is one long but entertaining war movie that will not disappoint. It is a complete change from Verhoeven whose other credits may raise a few questions as to how he can be so hit/miss with his ventures, but Black Book really is worth checking out, if not for the charming love story between Rachel and Muntze. People may slam Verhoeven especially for the excess and often unnecessary nudity in the film, but he has two excuses.

One: it’s a foreign language film.

Two:  This film is all about over exaggeration.

Why not go all out and produce something that is not just about the war, but also about a character, and her journey through the war as a spy? Black Book is nowhere near as entertaining as Inglourious Basterds, nor is it as focused on the brutalities of war like Band of Brothers, but it surely is one epic movie that has just the right amount of everything which will keep most viewers in their chair and wondering whatever will happen next!