ROTTEN TOMATOES: Box Office Guru Wrapup: Coen Brothers Ring in a New Weekend at the Box Office Comments

Box Office Guru Wrapup: Coen Brothers Ring in a New Weekend at the Box Office

by Gitesh Pandya | September 15, 2008

Summary

Joel and Ethan Coen scored the largest debut of their career and first-ever number one opening with the crime caper Burn After Reading. Back to Article

(1-21 of 21 posts) | Reply

Sulaco2k writes:
on Sep 15 2008 04:21 AM

Burn was absolutely hilarious so it's good to see that it won the weekend. This may be my favorite Pitt role to date and JK Simmons may have had the funniest 5 minute role in the history of cinema. I'm exaggerating of coarse but damn were those some great lines.

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kenny356 writes:
on Sep 15 2008 04:26 AM

totally agree with Sulaco about JK Simmons. He made the movie.

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medikboi_84 writes:
on Sep 15 2008 05:00 AM

sounds like a good september weekend, which is rare. Can't wait to watch Burn After Reading.

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Gimy writes:
on Sep 15 2008 05:43 AM

ok, is Burn REALLY funny or is it "Critically acclaimed"...funny, like Sideways. help us skepticals and give 3 movies YOU think are funny and 3 you think are total sh3t and not funny...so we can get an understanding. cuz i never laughed, nor chuckled...nor even smirked during the trailer. i wanna see it based pretty much on the big lebowski but these guys also have some highly overrated sh3t as well.

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Mike Man writes:
on Sep 15 2008 06:36 AM

awww TDK is finnally kicked off the top :(

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jokerboy1991 writes:
on Sep 15 2008 08:02 AM

Yeah Burn After Reading was really funny, and yeah JK Simmons was really funny. Glad to see it did well because I thought it was going to find an audience. If you have not seen it then GO!

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danterandal19 writes:
on Sep 15 2008 11:27 AM

In reply to this comment (#2032182)
Here are three movies I find funny "gimy":

'This is Spinal Tap"
"The Naked Gun"
"The 40-Year-Old Virgin"

Here are three movies that are not:
"Epic Movie"
"The Dukes of Hazzard"
"Napoleon Dynamite"

"Burn After Reading" is not necessarily a broad comedy, more like a screwball parody of a thriller. It is funny though (I agree with the other people here, J.K. Simmons has the funniest role even though he has maybe 5 min of screentime). If you are skeptical, I don't think you should see it, because its not the laugh-a-minute comedy that "Lebowski" was. IMO, give it a rental, don't rush out to see it and be disappointed (although I certainly wasn't).

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sliknik27 writes:
on Sep 15 2008 11:51 AM

I'm really surprised at how well Burn did. The trailers really don't do much to entice me, but I'm glad the crowds got behind a (supposedly) decent flick this weekend.

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dahluzz writes:
on Sep 15 2008 12:29 PM

In reply to this comment (#2032470)
'napoleon dynamite' isn't funny? sorry, but that's just plain ignant. the credibility you had established with your other picks just got flushed down the toilet. thanks for trying though.

Napoleon Dynamite: Well, what is there to eat?
Grandma: Knock it off, Napoleon! Just make yourself a dang quesa-dilluh!

c'mon, that's friggin gold.

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~*Admiral Snowstorm*~ writes:
on Sep 15 2008 01:30 PM

Napoleon Dynamite is hardly the pinnacle of comedy, calm down. I liked it a small bit, but it's very easy to see where others wouldn't.

Anyway, my best pitch for Burn After Reading is that it's like a lighter Fargo. The trailers kind of made it out to be a second Hudsucker Proxy, but it's really a lot like Fargo. The key difference is that it doesn't take itself seriously and is much more ridiculous. The tone and subject matter may be lighter, but it does have some remarkably dark humor. There were some moments where I felt kind of bad for laughing, which is something the Coens do very well. There was one moment in particular, and I think anybody who saw it can attest to this, where I was laughing pretty hard and all of a sudden something happened that should have shut me up. It had to do with a face Brad Pitt made. But the scene I'm talking about was totally abrupt and just about killed the laughter in the theater except for a few nervous chuckles. It was pretty awesome, but that was when I realized the movie was a lot darker than I had been expecting. It's no light-hearted farce...but at the same time, it's no No Country for Old Men. It sits squarely between comedy and tragedy, much like Fargo did. So, in conclusion, if you liked Fargo, you will probably like Burn After Reading.

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dahluzz writes:
on Sep 15 2008 01:41 PM

In reply to this comment (#2032571)
i like the 'burn' description and haven't seen it. sounds like it's worth a watch in thaters. and, while not a big deal, i do have to take issue with someone using 'napoleon' as one of three examples of (the other two of which are almost unspeakably bad) of what ISN'T funny. maybe people didn't find it as amusing as me, but it certainly doesn't define comedies that aren't funny.

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Dav3 writes:
on Sep 15 2008 02:07 PM

In reply to this comment (#2032182)
I saw Burn After Reading on Fri, and though I have to say it's not my favorite Coen bros (O Brother, Where Art Thou?) or the downright funniest (The Big Lebowski) but it does have plenty to laugh about.

1. Brad Pitt is fantastic. This was instantly my favorite performance of his.
2. I love George Clooney as a comedian (again O Brother is one of my favs) but this was not his best outing
3. Yes. JK Simmons has the funniest 5 min role ever. All the way at the end of the movie, though.

The way I'd sum it up is this: think hardcore spy thriller, but half the characters (Pitt, Clooney, McDormand) are total idiots.

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Dav3 writes:
on Sep 15 2008 02:12 PM

In reply to this comment (#2032614)
oops, I forgot

3 "comedies" I find funny:
Monty Python and The Holy Grail
Caddyshack
Hot Rod

3 "comedies" I don't find funny:
Sideways
Knocked Up
Step Brothers

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knowingtoast85 writes:
on Sep 15 2008 03:18 PM

3 comedies i find funny

Dr. Strangelove
Superbad
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (it counts)

3 comedies i don't find funny

Three Amigos
American Pie 2
I feel obligated to mention here that I think Friedberg and Seltzer should be taken out back and shot

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bondfreak writes:
on Sep 15 2008 04:19 PM

Brad Pitt and JK Simmons make Burn After Reading hilarious but the plot is actually pointless but ingenious at the same time, ur sitting there going why am i watching this but it was awesome. Hopeully audiences will push this to like 50 mil. It was great. Im watching Fargo tonight which is there supposed masterpiece but i watched the Big Lebowski which got great acclaim as well and i didnt like it, it dragged way too much so we'll see. Anyways next up is Ghost Town or Lakeview terrace i haven't decided yet and then next week the expected blockbuster Eagle Eye :)

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anubomb writes:
on Sep 15 2008 04:59 PM

Funny:
Some Like it Hot
Strangelove
Borat

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EXECUTIVE-BOSS writes:
on Sep 15 2008 08:01 PM

BURN AFTER READING was GREAT! If you havent seen it, then go and watch it...it'll def be worth your while

George Clooney : was some type of an animal (if you saw it, you know what I mean)

Brad Pitt : was a total dork and was great at it

John Malkovich : was so intense and at times so crazy but also pretty funny

J K Simmons : has come a FAR WAY from his days as Vern Schillinger in OZ

Do yourself and me a favor...go watch it!!!!!!

Francis McDormand : was great as a lonely, "dried up" woman with a purpose

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fullmetalnek writes:
on Sep 15 2008 08:31 PM

3 funny movies:
Pulp Fiction
Anchorman
Braindead

3 Unfunny movies:
The Girl Next Door
Austin Powers in Goldmember
The Simpsons Movie

I'll watch Burn whe it comes out here in Nicaragua. Hope it doesn't take too long.

Oh, and although some people find it boring, dumb and annoying, I think Napoleon is a very funny little gem.

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bsideleau writes:
on Sep 16 2008 12:36 AM

Burn After Reading was fantastic- hilarious, quirky with very random spurts of graphic violence (which were, admittedly, hilarious as well)....total classic Coen all the way. And I guess I'll throw some examples of "funny" and "not funny" out there-

Funny- Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life", American Psycho (yes, I have a very dark sense of humor), Tropic Thunder, Dr. Strangelove, Meet The Parents (When Stiller is on..he is REALLY on....but when he's off....you get it)

NOT Funny- I usually do not watch comedies that I don't think will be funny....but I was stupid enough to see Bewitched on a date a while back and that was horrid and of those horrid "movie" spoofs which have been coming at us non-stop for the past few years....I ended up seeing "Date Movie" at a friends house and I didn't laugh once the whole movie....and I felt as though anyone who did should take a long walk off of a short bridge. Oh yeah...and I watched "My Super-Ex Girlfriend" with a girl I was dating....another laugh-empty disaster that probably cost tens of millions to make. Yikes.

Oh...and as for Napoleon Dynamite....I thought it was irritating as hell the first time I saw it, but I chuckled at maybe 2 moments....but after it became so over-done and played out I began to really hate the film. Its not funny its just annoying and dimwitted.

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Bloody Mathias writes:
on Sep 18 2008 09:13 AM

I hated Burn After Reading. I Don't think anyone in my theater laughed even once.

Don't waste your money on this guys.

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SmoothRob writes:
on Sep 21 2008 08:36 AM

Burn was absolutely great. It was a comedy that you thought about during the movie but realized the pointlessness of thinking about it afterward. And this is my favorite Brad role next to Fight Club. The Coen brothers are definitely my fav.

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