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Burn After Reading

2008 film directed by Ethan and Joel Coen

Film · TMDB

6.7

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.

Released: 2008-09-0596 minDir: Ethan CoenComedy, Drama

Cast

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

This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.

Ratings · OMDb

IMDb

7/10

373,860 votes

Rotten Tomatoes

78%

Metacritic

63/100

Rated: R
Awards: Nominated for 3 BAFTA 8 wins & 32 nominations total

via OMDb · IMDb

Key facts

Directed by: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Written by: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Produced by: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Starring: George Clooney Frances McDormand John Malkovich Tilda Swinton Richard Jenkins Brad Pitt
Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki
Edited by: Roderick Jaynes
Music by: Carter Burwell
Production companies: StudioCanal Relativity Media Working Title Films Mike Zoss Productions
Distributed by: Focus Features (International), Universal Pictures (United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Benelux and Spain), StudioCanal (France)
Release dates: August 27, 2008 ( 2008-08-27 ) ( Venice ) September 12, 2008 ( 2008-09-12 ) (United States) October 17, 2008 ( 2008-10-17 ) (United Kingdom) December 10, 2008 ( 2008-12-10 ) (France)
Running time: 96 minutes

Key dates

Published: 2 October 2008

via Wikidata · CC0

Wikidata facts

Instance of: film
Award: National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
Genre: spy film
Country of origin: United Kingdom
Original language: English language
Director: Ethan Coen
Screenwriter: Coen brothers
Cast member: Brian O'Neill
Composer: Carter Burwell
Producer

Article

Burn After Reading is a 2008 black comedy espionage film written, produced, edited and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. It follows a recently jobless CIA analyst, Osborne Cox (John Malkovich), whose misplaced memoirs are found by a pair of dimwitted gym employees (Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt). When they mistake the memoirs for classified government documents, they undergo a series of misadventures in an attempt to profit from their find. The film also stars George Clooney as a womanizing U.S. Marshal; Tilda Swinton as Katie Cox, the wife of Osborne Cox; Richard Jenkins as the gym manager; and J. K. Simmons as a CIA supervisor.

The film premiered on August 27, 2008, at the Venice Film Festival. It was released in the United States on September 12, 2008, and in the United Kingdom on October 17, 2008. It performed well at the box office, grossing over $163 million from its $37 million budget. Critical response was mostly positive, and the film received nominations at both the Golden Globes and British Academy Film Awards.