Movie Review: The Burning Plain (2008)

I saw this movie on the list of free available movies to me, and decided to give it a shot. As it turns out, I am glad that I did.

This movie starts off seemingly a bit slow, and it also feels confusing at first. All of these characters and situations, at first, have no seemingly obvious connection to one another. Surely, I thought, there is a connection between these women, but it it not immediately apparent what that connection is. Of course, it becomes apparent before too long, if you remain patient.

Without getting into spoilers (at least not yet), this movie draws you in, albeit in a depressing way. Yes, this is a heartbreaking movie, with lives at or near poverty for most of the characters involved. And Sylvia (played very capably by Charlize Theron), the one major character who seems to be doing fairly well financially and professionally is, in some ways, the most depressing and heartbreaking character of all. 

There are three women, each in different stages of their lives. One is a young woman, really just a teenage girl, played by Jennifer Lawrence. She is a struggling teenager who falls in love with a teen boy, while also having a contentious relationship with one of the other women, her mother (played by Kim Bassinger). Then, there is Charlize Theron's character, Sylvia, who appears to have a successful career in the restaurant industry. Yet, you definitely get the sense that she has a serious case of self-loathing. Of course, we do not know why for a while. But she moves seamlessly from one meaningless casual relationship after another. Some men seem to really be attracted to her, to want something more serious from her, but she keeps these men at arm's length. 

Also, this whole thing starts with an explosion of a house in the middle of seemingly nowhere, some desert trailer that does not seem especially significant at first. As the movie progresses, however, we begin to learn the importance of this place, and how the events that transpired here, in this little glorified shack, transformed the lives of all three women permanently.

Personally, I very much liked this film. It resonated, and packed an emotional punch, gets you to think about the carelessness of unthinking actions, especially in our youth. That fire ultimately burns something into all of the major characters in this movie, but it is only as we watch the movie and see the events unfold that we finally understand the significance that this singular event has on each of these women. 

Going into this movie, I knew nothing about it, admittedly. I always liked Charlize Theron. That might sound strange, since generally speaking, celebrities are not my thing. In fact, I tend to think of them as a parasitic aspect of our crass culture. But I always found Theron particularly beautiful, and found her enchanting, perhaps especially her intriguing background, coming as she did from South Africa, a place that I was simply always fascinated by. Perhaps she is the closest thing that I had to a celebrity crush, because she is just extraordinarily beautiful. Plus, I liked Kim Bassinger since she was in Batman back in my teenage years.

So I gave the movie a shot, and was glad that I did. If you like movies that make you think, and pack an emotional punch, you will probably like this one, too. Now admittedly, it is not a very happy movie. In fact, generally, it is a very depressing movie. However, it is also a good and entertaining movie, and it feels like it moves fast.

Highly recommended!