Who else thinks that, come 20 years, Burn After Reading will become a cult favorite of the Coen bros?
This was a sleeper hit, one of their best, overshadowed by their other projects.
I don't think people will talk about A Serious Man, or True Grit in 25 years....
but Burn After Reading will grow on all of you...I know it will :)
Maybe You Can Have It All...
I am about to view Burn After Reading so cannot comment on it. I notice that reviews are mixed, my fellow band of amateur critics even seem to love it or hate it. Generally I like the actors in it and hope they have not been wasted. I have mixed feelings about Coen brother movies that I have watched so far. Blood Simple was,indeed, bloody awful but I love O Brother Where Art Thou? and its brilliant spoof on Homer’s Odyssey set In the American south of the 1930s, it’s a classic. I also mildly enjoyed The Big Lebowski (despite being not overly fond of Geoff Bridges as an actor) and was only slightly taken with Fargo watchable but not exceptional.
I think if you have seen and enjoyed a few Coen Bros movies you will not like the recent remake of True Grit with Bridges as Rooster. Even the original John Wayne version was not very inspiring and in both films the child actresses needed more coaching; high school hacks mouthing their lines. I generally like John Wayne westerns and I really enjoyed the John Wayne sequel to True Grit entitled Rooster Cogburn, The dialogue of John Wayne as Rooster with Katherine Hepburn was as entertaining as that held between Humphrey Bogart and a much younger Katherine Hepburn in The African Queen.
I think it's a classic now.
Great performances from all. But Clooney, Pitt and McDormand were exceptional I didn't think Clooney had it in but he was brilliant.
I've seen most of the Coen brother movies and for me this is the best one of the lot and it would be a crying shame if it only reaches the status of 'Cult' movie since i think everyone would enjoy this feast of entertainment.
Well done to the Coen boys.
Oh, people will be talking about A Serious Man in 25 years.
The Coen brothers are in the unique and enviable (?) position of (a) being incredibly talented film makers, and (b) being in possession of an unwritten guarantee that almost all of their films will end up "cult favourites".
Having said that, their recent output is particularly strong.
No Country for Old Men
A Serious Man
Burn After Reading
True Grit
If you liked these movies as much as I did, you have to appreciate the achievement of these four films following one after another.
I mistakenly started a thread over at the True Grit board suggesting that they'd had one of the best 3-film streaks in history -- my mistake was omitting BAR, which I'd somehow forgotten. I think it's the weakest of the four, but seriously, it's still an amazing accomplishment.
True Grit is the only weak film out of the ones you've mentionned
My post was written a long time ago, and since then I have found a new found love for A Serious Man
but True Grit is a flop of a film, and was made on a whim it seems, the original is WAY better
Maybe You Can Have It All...
I couldn't disagree more about True Grit. I'm very fond of John Wayne's best films, but I will never count the original among them. The Coen version I found completely arresting.
But I'm glad to hear you've changed your mind about A Serious Man -- I think it's superb.
The 3 film streak is strong indeed, going from good (BAR) to near-great (both NCFOM & ASM), but overall I still think the 1990´s was the better decade for Coens. And maybe one of these days I´ll manage to muster up enough enthusiasm to actually see True Grit.
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan