The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Monday, September 15, 2008 -5A

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A tough 'Job'market

"This is the shit, like, the total government shit."

Fire, but no spark

Star-studded cast
r fails to energize
the Coen brothers'
latest political jaunt
By ANNIE LEVENE
DailyArts Writer
with an election year such
as this, there's bound to be an
increased interest in all things
political. As People Magazine
and US Weekly
ditch Brange- **'
lina for McCain
and Obama, and Bum After
with Bristol Reading
Palin becoming
this year's Jamie At the Michigan
Lynn Spears, Theater, Quality
Washington has 16 and Showcase
become the new Focus Features
Tinseltown.
And not sur-
prisingly, Hollywood has found a
way to capitalize on politics with
upcoming films such as "Frost/
Nixon" and "W."
While "Burn After Reading" isn't
a full blown political film, both its
setting and plot (which revolves
around a bunch of interconnected
individuals who think they're in
the know of how the political power
game is played) suggest that the film
is intended as a critique of today's
state of affairs. With the current
administration's bumbling response
to national disasters still fresh in
ourminds, it's easytobe skeptical of
how things get done in D.C.
The film illustrates just how
easily idiocy can run wild, thanks

in no small part to the power of
suggestion. The film's large cast
lends a feeling of mass anarchy.
Each character is equally moti-
vated by ambitions of varying
sorts. Whether it's raising money
for plastic surgery, divorcing a
spouse or just finding someone to
have sex with, the motivations all
seem trivial. Most unfortunately,
despite their plans of grandness,
none of the characters really have
the brains to pull off their selfish
schemes.
The film, which was heav-
ily hyped leading up to its release,
follows Joel and Ethan Coen's
equally hyped "No Country
for Old Men." However, while
"No Country" gained attention
despite relatively low star power
Tommy Lee Jones isn't exactly
a guaranteed box-office draw -
"Burn After Reading" relies heav-
ily on the bold-faced names. Brad
Pitt ("Ocean's Thirteen"), George
Clooney ("Michael Clayton"), John
Malkovich ("Beowulf"), Frances
McDormand ("North Country"),
Tilda Swenton ("Michael Clay-
ton") - they're all great actors, but
they're also A-list celebs. It's hard
to pass up a movie that has such
outstanding talent to burn.
Ultimately, the choice of actors
was a wise one. Clooney does his
usual "schmooze 'em or loose
'em" to varying degrees of suc-
cess. He's basically playing him-
self, right down to the slightly
self-deprecating charm, but it's
generally appealing as always.
The one true standout is Pitt,
who goes against typecasting
with his performance as a bike-
riding fitness instructor with

terribly highlighted hair. Having
six children running around his
French villa has taken its toll, as
Pitt looks a little weary. Still, with
every victory dance he performs
- and there are several - he man-
ages to steal every scene in a way
that's similar to his last great role
in 2000's "Snatch." He's a lovable
lunkhead.
Surprisingly, the film's faults
point to the Coen brothers. Obvi-
ously talented writers and direc-
tors, they let the movie run away
with itself. The film's final third is
quickly paced, entertaining and at
some points, awesomely surpris-
ing, but the rest is a whole lot of
time-consuming nothing.
In the end, the film seems to
be reaching to make some sort of
political comment, but the ideas
aren't fully developed. By follow-
ing "No Country" - a film that
succeeded based on its own merit
- with a film seeking recogni-
tion through star power, the Coen
brothers ended up with a film that
isn'tnecessarilybad,butcouldhave
been better. "Burn After Reading"
can be viewed as a victim of sib-
ling rivalry with its older brother,
"No Country:" You can tell the two
are related, but the youngest just
can't live up to the greatness of its
senior.

By JOHN DAAVETTILA
Daily Arts Writer
What's more difficult: work-
ing on a crab boat or watching
people work on a crab boat?
NBC's "America's Toughest
Jobs" centers on 13 contestants
competing for a growing pot of
money while
working some
of the most
grueling jobs America's
in the United TnUghest
States. Hosted
by Josh Temple Jobs
("Curb YourM
Enthusiasm") Mondays
- the new Joe a
Rogan - the NBC
show seems to
be operating under the guise
of informing the public about
these dangerous jobs. In reality,
it's nothing more than obvious,
spoon-fed drama.
For their first task, the 13 men
and women traveled to Dutch
Harbor, Alaska, to go crab fish-
ing. (It turns out that their main
activities were vomiting and
proclaiming the difficulty of
their job as they tried to maneu-
ver cumbersome crab.catchers)
But as dangerous as crab fishing
may be, it doesn't make for good
television. If you wouldn't want
to work the job, why would you
want to watch it?
The contestants on "Toughest
Jobs" are a pretty eclectic bunch,
ranging from the hippie carpen-
ter with dreadlocks to a wimpy
Wall Street executive who can't
lift 40 pounds of bait, yet signed
up for the show anyway. Why
would anyone who isn't in peak
physical condition agree to do
this show when it's obvious the
younger, stronger contestants
will be victorious? Maybe the
older contestants feel the need to
test their boundaries, but haven't

they heard of skydiving lessons?
Then again, there's no money-
making opportunity in skydiv-
ing.
Despite the fact that both
men and women compete on the
show, "Toughest Jobs" makes
no effort to make the genders
equal. In fact, the idea of women
being weaker than men is rather
unabashed. For example, in the
second episode, Temple asks
with a sneer how the two female
competitors driving freight
trucks (or "Team Lady Truck")
performed.
The pace of the show is entire-
ly too fast. In the first three min-
utes of the pilot, Temple explains
the premise and dumps the audi-
ence in the middle of the Ber-
ing Sea with the 13 contestants,
leaving little time to hear the
contestants' backgrounds or get
a feel for the show. The result is a
rushed, contrived episode which
leaves the audience stranded.
The prizesystemof"Toughest
Jobs" isn't 'anything we've seen
before: Instead of a set amount
of money awaiting the winner at
the end of the series, the money
the contestants "earn" on the
job goes into an account which
grows with every episode. This
- - * a 1 f.

begs the question: How cheap is
NBC that they're making the job
sites provide prize money?
Many will call this a rip-off of
"Dirty Jobs," but the two shows
shouldn't be compared. There's a
light-hearted approach to "Dirty
Jobs" which "Toughest. Jobs"
clearly lacks. "Toughest Jobs" is
an hour of non-stop stress and
Nope - crab
fishing is never
interesting.
anxiety, which makes it exhaust-
ing to watch with little reward
for the viewer. The spectacle of
public physical struggle is only
fresh for so long.
The vibe of "Toughest Jobs" is
one in which drama and excite-
ment are anything but subtle,
and yet still not enough to hold
an audience's attention. The
escapism and easy entertain-
ment craved on a Monday night
isn't found here, making "Tough-
est Jobs" the last thing anyone
wants to watch after a long day.

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