A disk containing mysterious information from a CIA agent ends up in the hands of two unscrupulous and daft gym employees who attempt to sell it.A disk containing mysterious information from a CIA agent ends up in the hands of two unscrupulous and daft gym employees who attempt to sell it.A disk containing mysterious information from a CIA agent ends up in the hands of two unscrupulous and daft gym employees who attempt to sell it.
- Nominated for 3 BAFTA Awards
- 8 wins & 32 nominations total
J.K. Simmons
- CIA Superior
- (as JK Simmons)
J.R. Horne
- Divorce Lawyer
- (as JR Horne)
- Directors
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe Coen Brothers (Joel Coen & Ethan Coen) wrote the character Osborne Cox with John Malkovich in mind. Brad Pitt's character was also written with the actor in mind, inspired by a commercial for which he suffered a similar haircut and dye job. Indeed, the Coen Brothers noted at a Q&A session at the Venice Film Festival that all the leading characters were written for all the leading actors, with the exception of Tilda Swinton.
- GoofsWhen Osborne returns home after being served for divorce, he tries to enter his home with a car key not a house key.
- Quotes
[last lines]
CIA Superior: What did we learn, Palmer?
CIA Officer: I don't know, sir.
CIA Superior: I don't fuckin' know either. I guess we learned not to do it again.
CIA Officer: Yes, sir.
CIA Superior: I'm fucked if I know what we did.
CIA Officer: Yes, sir, it's, uh, hard to say
CIA Superior: Jesus Fucking Christ.
- Crazy creditsAs usual, the Coen Brothers edited this film under the pseudonym Roderick Jaynes
Featured review
The point here is that this movie is for adults, with adult themes and adult situations. As with all Coen brother movies, there are going to be people who love it and people that hate it. There doesn't seem to be much middle ground. I loved this movie. It was entertaining, dark and very funny. I really liked "No Country for Old Men" but I have to say, "Burn After Reading" was a more enjoyable film for me. Some of the reviews here have said that the film rambles around pointlessly, without any clear direction; well I have to disagree, if you are paying attention and you are an adult, you should have no problem understanding what is going on. The best part of the movie is watching this great cast perform brilliantly with the odd-ball material they are given. They are all straight men for the Coen brother's antics. There is violence, bad language, and everyone is sleeping with everyone else, especially George Clooney. But the movie is very funny and while the rest of Hollywood seems to have lost there way, the Coen brothers continue to put out intelligent, entertaining and thought provoking material.
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Quémese después de leerse
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $37,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $60,355,347
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $19,128,001
- Sep 14, 2008
- Gross worldwide
- $163,728,902
- Runtime1 hour 36 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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