The Wasteland Reviewer

Outside the Wasteland: Burn After Reading (2008)

Film can mean so much more than just entertainment on a screen, right? Outside the Wasteland is my new avenue to express my thoughts on films that have truly made an impact on my life. This is not about how great the films are or even how much I love them. This is an expression of how these films have made a direct impact on my life including my love of film, my personality, my world view, and just an overall lasting impression that deeply affected me.  This is a doorway into The Wasteland Reviewer through the films that have shaped me.

Burn After Reading (2008)

What was one of the most life changing decisions that I made during my freshman year of college? I made quite a few of them from losing weight to trying harder to connect with people. The one that sent me on this crazy journey through the world of cinema was joining the Alternative Film Club at Rider University. I attended an Awareness Fair for on campus clubs and organizations. I always loved movies, but I was not into “film” …if you know what I mean. This was the only movie related organization, but I was not sure about the “Alternative” aspect of it. I loved action movies, fantasy, and science fiction. But this was for Independent, Foreign, and Classic films. I took a leap (to break out of my shell) and attended the first meeting which was for The Coen Brothers’ Burn After Reading. This one film sent me on a whole new path when it came to film.

First off, I was hooked on the Alternative Film Club. I was one of only three people who attended every single meeting that semester. One of those other two people happened to be my best friend Matt Williams who is part of The Movie Club on my YouTube channel and is a frequent collaborator. Our friendship has lasted the past 14 years (which is a crazy realization for me). I also met my friend Vinnie Abbatecola who was the one who ran Film Club (who is also in The Movie Club). After attending every meeting of my freshmen, I became the Vice President/Secretary/Treasurer for two years and I led the meetings with the discussions afterwards as well. This gave me some great leadership opportunities for the first time in my life. I would become President my senior, make friends I am still close to too, and won two movie trivia competitions. Being part of the Alternative Film Club was such a big influence on me and opened my world to so much great cinema. It all started with Burn After Reading.

But my journey with Film Club was not the only result of that first viewing of Burn After Reading. That was the first ever Coen Brothers film that I watched. 14 years later, I have watched all their work, and they are my favorite filmmakers. Their dry humor, the precision of their vision, and the effective mosaic of differing influences come together to create some classic cinema. The influences of screwball comedies with fast talking and physical comedy bring so much personality to their films. There is always something so unexpected in the narratives that they tell. Burn After Reading is a beautiful mixture of awkwardness, shocking violence, great character work, and a healthy dose of paranoia. The Coens always find ways to attract some of the most talented performers in Hollywood to their films. Frances McDormand (a staple in their films and the Coens’ lives), Brad Pitt (offering up something so interesting and different), George Clooney (charming as ever), and John Malkovich (who is endlessly quotable). Burn After Reading is not one of their top tier films but it is one that never gets enough attention. This is one of their efforts that takes more of the fun route (especially compared to their previous effort of No Country for Old Men) but it still delivers so many great moments and intensity. There are so many things I admire about the Coens’ work and this film encompasses them.

Why was this a film that felt so important to my evolving taste in film? Up to that point, I had seen films as entertainment (for the most part). I did take a film class in high school (discussions for another day) which started that ball rolling, but Alternative Film Club was the real driving force behind it. Burn After Reading is a film that is a wild fun time but also has so much artistic value to it as well. There would be so many different types of film that I would dive into thanks to this experience. I began to care about filmmakers and checking out their filmographies. I would notice the trademarks of auteurs and what they bring to their films. I noticed the deeper themes and ideas that would be the foundations of films (even ones like Burn After Reading where the meaning is in the absolute nonsense of the world around us and the lack of purpose and meaning to what often occurs). Seeing films from all different types of cultures, eras, and to varying scale because a priority for me. The world of cinema is so much bigger than what is shown to us growing up. Becoming an explorer of cinema felt like a true calling for me. And once again…it all started with Burn After Reading.