MovieChat Forums > Burn After Reading (2008) Discussion > This Film's Place in The Coen Canon

This Film's Place in The Coen Canon

posted 15 years ago by DavidLean
27 replies | jump to latest

Hello All,

I am a new member here and a pretty big Coen fan. I finally got to see Burn After Reading and I gotta say, this film is brilliant! What I enjoyed most were the parellels with "Fargo", the way in which very ordinary people with limited intellectual means get in over their heads, and the way it spirals. I was able to predict Chad's death but that did not detract - I know the ways of the Coens and a moment of extreme violence is always lurking. The nonchalance of the CIA guys was high comedy, and I like a good F-bomb as much as the next guy - Malkovich was awesome.

So I ask fellow Coen fans, where does this one rank in the Coen canon? I place it in the upper 1/3 tier - something like this:

Fargo
Lebowski
No Country
Miller's Crossing
Burn After Reading

My all-time least favorite is Intolerable Cruelty.

Cheers!

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] TheLegitJarvis 14 years ago

1. No Country for Old Men
2. The Big Lebowski
3. True Grit
4. Burn After Reading

Movies last watched:

Serenity - 9/10
Pulp Fiction - 10/10
The Bourne Identity - 8/10

[–] dyahrmarkt 14 years ago

This, for me, ranks right with the better Coen films best labeled as 'farce'. They've done a half-dozen or so, half unsuccessful -

The good:
-Lebowski
-Raising Arizona
-O Brother, Where Art Thou? (*although this one contains so many beautiful elements I hesitate putting here, but what the hell....)
-Burn After Reading

The average/so-so:
-Ladykillers
-Intolerable Cruelty
-Hudsucker

Please nest your IMDB page, so you respond to the correct person.

[–] Chris-332 13 years ago

I definitely find this to be one of their weaker films, but it does have its moments. To be honest, I think I prefer the much maligned Ladykillers remake to this movie, which I find to be too broad and too thin in the screenplay department. Here's my Coen ranking:

MASTERPIECES
A Serious Man
The Big Lebowski
Barton Fink
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Fargo
No Country For Old Men

GREAT
Miller's Crossing
The Man Who Wasn't There
Blood Simple
Raising Arizona

GOOD
The Hudsucker Proxy
True Grit

MEDIOCRE
The Ladykillers
Burn After Reading

BAD
Intolerable Cruelty

"Just look at that parking lot."

[–] bhoover247 13 years ago

I enjoy all Coen films this is my ranking of the 12 I have seen, I haven't seen True Grit, A Serious Man and Blood Simple.

1. The Man Who Wasn't There
2. Fargo
3. Barton Fink
4. No Country For Old Men
5. Burn After Reading
6. The Lady Killers
7. Millers Crossing
8. O Brother, Where Art Thou
9. Intolerable Cruelty
10. The Big Lebowski
11. Raising Arizona
12. The Hudsucker Proxy

[–] filthydeeds 13 years ago

Out of the Coen's movies I have seen this is the order I would put them in -

1. Lebowski
2. Hudsucker Proxy
3. No Country for Old Men
4. The Ladykillers
5. Burn After Reading
6. A Serious Man (I have to re-watch this)
7. Raising Arizona (I also have to re-watch this)

_

I'd rather you hate me for something I am than love me for something I'm not.

[–] CocktailQueen 12 years ago

The Big Lebowski
Burn After Reading
Raising Arizona
Fargo
No Country For Old Men
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
True Grit
A Serious Man
The Ladykillers
Intolerable Cruelty

[–] franzkabuki 12 years ago

Square in the middle - or a notch lower. Solid film, but nothing too special.

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

[–] blufftoni 12 years ago

I would put this in the middle third (lower end). That sounds worse than it is because of the general quality of their films. I've only seen Hudsucker and Barton once and they could very well move up, but at the moment it's:

The Big Lebowski
Miller's Crossing
O Brother Where Art Thou?
No Country For Old Men
Fargo
True Grit
Raising Arizona
Blood Simple
Burn After Reading
The Ladykillers
The Man Who Wasn't There
The Hudsucker Prozy
A Serious Man
Barton Fink
Intolerable Cruelty

Intolerable Cruelty was the only one that I knew I didn't like whilst I was watching it. If that makes sense.

[–] STinG3606 12 years ago

The Big Lebowski
No Country For Old Men
Raising Arizona
Barton Fink
O Brother Where Art Thou?
Fargo
A Serious Man
True Grit
Miller's Crossing
Blood Simple
The Man Who Wasn't There
The Hudsucker Proxy
Burn After Reading

All of them I loved, except Burn After Reading. Still have not seen Intolerable Cruelty or The Ladykillers.

You ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?
Yeah, he told me you're gay.
*BANG!*

[–] ryanaustinf 12 years ago

These are the only ones I've seen

1. The Big Lebowski (9/10)
2. Fargo (9/10)
3. Barton Fink (9/10)
3. No Country For Old Men (9/10)
4. Miller's Crossing (9/10)
5. Burn After Reading (8/10)
6. A Serious Man (8/10)
7. Raising Arizona (8/10)
8. True Grit (7/10)
9. Blood Simple (7/10)

10. O Brother, Where Art Thou (5/10) (Out of the films of theirs that I've seen, this was the only one I didn't like)

When this baby hits 88 miles per hour, you're gonna see some serious *beep*

[–] PhoenixPhuck 12 years ago

1a. The Big Lebowski
1b. Miller's Crossing
3. The Hudsucker Proxy
4. Oh Brother Where Art Thou?
5. No Country For Old Men
6. Raising Arizona
7. The Man Who Wasn't There
8. Barton Fink
9. A Serious Man
10. Fargo
11. Intolerable Cruelty
12. Burn After Reading
13. Blood Simple
14. The Ladykillers
15. True Grit

I've never REALLY been disappointed by any Coen brother movie until True Grit...even their lesser films I've always enjoyed for what they are.

Even the most primitive society has an innate respect for the insane.