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Created Jan 12, 2013 11:11PM PST • Edited May 01, 2023 03:56AM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Great 4.0

   A woman on the edge propels the oh-so-smart drama in this almost too clever movie. The story turns back in on itself time and again, not fully revealing its convergence till the end. An ultimately satisfying twist does come, though not before we’re asked to hang in through lots of puzzlingly self-destructive behavior.

   Three dazzling actresses play The Burning Plain’s damaged women. Charlize Theron looms largest as the aforementioned woman literally on the edge of complete self-destruction, with Kim Basinger and Jennifer Lawrence in a mother-daughter parallel plot. All three are great though only Lawrence stuns. Looking back, this isn’t surprising. This is Jennifer Lawrence before she was JENNIFER LAWRENCE, in one of her now patented Big Sister Hall of Fame performances, which also include Winter’s Bone and The Hunger Games.

   Writer-director Guillermo Arriaga uses his characteristic parallel-plotting to tell a story of biological determinism across two generations. Though male, he focuses the story on four females who are smarter – albeit more messed up – than the men around them. His perceptive story is ultimately sympathetic to his damaged heroines, even though they are often damaging to others. For instance, Theron’s character – a fatally beautiful sexual vampire – inflicts considerable heartache on herself and those in her orbit.

   Fans of the stellar Jennifer Lawrence, Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger, plus those who dig smart, compelling drama will find The Burning Plain a very worthwhile viewing experience.

4. Acting

   Great 4.0

   Jennifer Lawrence’s credit is way down with the bit players, though she is as central to the story and more affecting than established stars Charlize Theron and Kim Bassinger. Lawrence’s scene of emotional immolation after a dangerous prank goes horribly wrong is movie acting at its very finest. On the lighter side, her bright “I got it!” after sling-shooting a bird is a treasured moment for we besotted fans.

   Kim Basinger is a nervous wreck as her adulterous Mother. I’ve never been drawn to the Blond Bomb, but her performance here passes the test of greatness. It’s impossible to imagine someone else delivering it.

   Charlize Theron plays a sexually alluring mess who allows men to use her – a movie kind of woman. Hers is a great performance – a brave one – of the kind she’s often sought this past decade, falling somewhere between Monster and Young Adult. She plays the opening minutes naked as a jay bird, the first of several times she exposes herself. No wonder Theron hasn’t married or had kids. Her body of work represents an essay in post-liberation female abjection.

   Notables from the strong supporting cast:

   • John Corbett, looking good as one of Charlize’s man-toys.
   • José María Yazpik as a sweet and stalwart buddy.
   • Robin Tunney employs her fatally attractive mouth and interesting voice to good effect as Charlize’s work buddy.
   • JD Pardo’s boy-band good-looks make him a suitable lover for Jennifer Lawrence.
     Danny Pino is also attractively distinctive as his older incarnation.
   • Brett Cullen is always distinctive, here as a trucker-done-wrong.
   • Rachel Ticotin is always a treat on screen, here in a bit part as a widow-done-wrong.
   • Joaquim de Almeida is also always distinctive, here as a destructively adulterous man.

5. Male Stars Very Good 3.5

6. Female Stars Really Great 4.5

   Jennifer Lawrence was perfect, Charlize Theron really great, Kim Basinger great.

7. Female Costars Very Good 3.5

8. Male Costars Very Good 3.5

10. Film

    Great 4.0

    Writer-director Guillermo Arriaga’s characteristic parallel-plotting works well focusing on just two stories. Bringing them together in the end makes it more coherent than Babel. More coherent than Babel? Low bar.

    His film hits stride at the midway point when a crash in the field marks a truly compelling turn of events.

    The poster above shows The Burning Plain marketed in France as Loin de la Terre Brûlée or Away From The Scorched Earth. Most things sound better in French, including their interpretation of the title.

11. Direction Great 4.0

12. Play Great 4.0

13. Music Very Good 3.5

    The silent beginning is more annoying than prefacing.

14. Visuals Very Good 3.5

    A thriller set in an upscale contemporary restaurant hits deliciously close to home.

15. Content

16. Edge

    Sordid 3.0

    Joyless sex and accidental tragedy make The Burning Plain a sordid movie indeed.

    There’s also joyful sex, a fair bit actually.

    Touching on the emotional fallout from breast cancer elevates all of The Burning Plain..

17. Sex Erotic 3.0

18. Violence Fierce 2.4

19. Rudeness Profane 3.5

21. Reality

    Glib 1.3

22. Circumstantial Glib 2.0

23. Biological Natural 1.0

24. Physical Natural 1.0