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Bookmark this pageThe Burning Plain (2008)
Director: Guillermo Arriaga
Movie review
From Time Out London
Having split from director Alejandro González Iñárritu after ‘Babel’, screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga’s first directorial outing is more of the same – only less so.As a tangled story criss-crosses the US-Mexican border, Arriaga’s jigsaw-puzzle writing reveals links between Oregon restaurant manager Charlize Theron, frustrated New Mexico housewife Kim Basinger’s troubled relationship with her daughter, and the fate of a Mexican girl who’s seen her crop-dusting father crash his plane.
No surprise it all fits together in the end, to tell a tale of the ripple effect of sundry pressure-cooker decisions, though Arriaga gives the game away too early. The performances are hard to fault, but the direction leaves the movie lacking juice and us thinking a clunky chain of events has been jazzed up by the mosaic-style construction. Not negligible, but disappointing.
Author: Trevor Johnston
Time Out London issue 2012, Mar 12-18 2009
Cast & crew
Director: Guillermo Arriaga
Cast: Charlize Theron, Kim Basinger, Jennifer Lawrence, Joaquim de Almeida full cast
Rated: 15
Duration: 106 mins
UK Release: Mar 13 2009
US Release: Sep 18 2009
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