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The Burning Plain

2008

Guillermo Arriaga

Charlize Theron, Jennifer Lawrence, Kim Basinger, Joaquim de Almeida ...

6.4

6,898

Drama A drama with a two-tiered storyline concerning a mother (Basinger) and daughter (Theron) who try to form a bond after the young woman's difficult childhood. The Burning Plain is a drama that explores the mysterious connection between several characters separated by time and space: Mariana, a 16-year-old girl trying to put together the shattered lives of her parents in a Mexican border town; Sylvia, a woman in Portland who must undertake ... [+]

	Author	Review
United States	Derek Elley Variety	"Despite an OK-to-good cast led by Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger, plus a handsome tech package, this remains an elaborate writing exercise with few emotional hooks."	NEU
United States	A. O. Scott The New York Times	"It depends on ideas about human behavior that can only be called preposterous (...) The elliptical structure of the narrative can’t cover up its overheated, half-baked banality."	NEG
United States	Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"[Arriaga] is being too clever for his own good. That's a shame, because his actors provide him with effective performances (…) Rating: ★★½ (out of 4)"	NEU
United Kingdom	David Gritten Telegraph	"It is serious-minded and dramatic, with universal themes and a clutch of fine acting performances. (...) Arriaga pulls together the strands of his narrative with great expertise"	POS
United Kingdom	Philip French The Guardian	"[It makes] glib statements about redemption, fate and the ironies of life (...) A major disappointment."	NEG
United Kingdom	William Thomas Empire	"An intense drama of betrayal, guilt (lots of guilt) and sex (...) Ultimately a ponderous artistic jigsaw puzzle (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	NEU

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