Release date: 09-18-09
For Guillermo Arriaga, The Burning Plain marks his first full feature film as director. The acclaimed screenwriter (Amores perros, 21 Grams and Babel) has seen his entangled and character driven stories gain tremendous praise and success over the years. Although this story, opposed to his previous works, is predominantly centralized around three women, The Burning Plain keeps Arriaga’s streak of well written and multi-layered films going.
The story follows: Sylvia (Charlize Theron) is a restaurant manager who attempts to fill her empty voids by excessive drinking, smoking and engaging in meaningless sex with various men (co-workers and customers) with random acts of self mutilation mixed in; Gina (Kim Basinger) is your everyday cancer surviving mother who’s fallen out of love with her husband Robert (Brett Cullen). But her lust for a Mexican man, Nick (Joaquim de Almeida), endangers her relationships with her three children. Mariana (Jennifer Lawrence) is Gina’s eldest child, who suspects her mother’s adulterous behavior and eventually starts to see Nick’s son Santiago (D.J. Pardo) out of spite. At the very base of this story, however, is a fundamental truth that binds these three women together. Thus, keeping this slow moving, yet deeply effecting tragedy interesting all the way to the end.
The performances I thought were good, overall. Kim Basinger’s portrayal of a heart wrenched mother was moving at times. But nothing to write home about. Her 1997 Oscar winning performance in L.A. Confidential, is by far her best work. Here, she doesn’t come close. The film’s standout was Charlize Theron, who delivers and outstanding portrayal of an emotionally distressed human being. Her character’s problems trace all the way back to her childhood and every time we see her on screen you feel it. Keep an eye on her as the year progresses. Her best since Monster. The rest of the cast was just okay. They weren’t bad but didn’t effect the quality of the film in any real significant way.
In my personal opinion, 21 Grams is one of the finest films of the past decade. Thus, making it an extremely difficult task for Arriaga to top such a masterful work of art. And The Burning Plain is no 21 Grams by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a compelling drama with a terrific lead performance by Charlize Theron. If you’re not fan of Amores perros, 21 Grams or Babel, this is not a film for you. But if you are, give this one a chance.
IMDb: 7.2/10
Rottentomatoes: 50 %
MovieWiseGuys: 7.0/10