The Burning Plain

  • Review Date: September 3, 2009
  • R
  • Genre: Drama
  • 2009
Review

Common Sense Media says

Poignant story of infidelity, loss, remorse; not for kids.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Not yet rated

Kids say

Not yet rated

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this movie focuses on an adulterous relationship and the devastation it causes to its many victims. There are several scenes of frank sexuality, including passionate foreplay, suggested intercourse, and nudity (bare female breasts, buttocks, backs, and a fully nude woman seen from a distance). A violent explosion/fire that kills two adults is shown several times, though without any gruesome shots of the people inside. A young woman is seen mutilating her leg ("cutting") in a gesture of self-loathing, and two teens use a cigarette lighter to scar themselves. There's also plenty of strong language (including "f--k," "s--t," "bastard," "slut," etc.), smoking throughout, and occasional drinking.

  • Positive messages2
    Characters make plenty of iffy decisions with painful consequences, but the movie ultimately sends the message that redemption is possible against even great odds. Taking responsibility for behavior is seen as necessary and important, and wrongdoers pay dearly for their mistakes. The effect of parents' behavior (good and bad) upon their children is closely observed.
  • Positive role models0
    Although some children with strong moral centers are able to overcome adversity and a central character comes to terms with her past and faces those she has hurt, characters also commit adultery, hurt themselves and others, and behave in very complicated ways.
  • Violence3
    Two people are killed in a violent explosion/fire in a trailer -- this event is shown multiple times. A woman engages in self-mutilation by carving into her leg; teens burn their arms with a lighter in mutual "scarring" pact; a father slaps his teen daughter across the face; a crop dusting plane crashes as the young daughter of the pilot watches; two birds are killed with slingshots.
  • Sex4
    Many scenes with lots of sexual activity, nudity, and implied sexual intercourse -- including scenes of females undressing and being undressed, bare backs, buttocks, breasts, full nudity in shadows, sexual foreplay, and shots of implied intercourse in a variety of positions. Teens are seen kissing, starting to undress, embracing, beginning foreplay, and, finally, post-intercourse with bare shoulders visible.
  • Language4
    Swearing and harsh language in several scenes, including: "f--k" (in many forms), "slut," "bitch," "hell," "son of a bitch," "Jesus Christ," and "bulls--t." There's also one scene with racial slurs, including "wetback" and jeering use of "Mexican."
  • Consumerism0
    Not applicable.
  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking2
    Occasional wine drinking and beer consumption. Several characters smoke throughout.
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What's the story?

In THE BURNING PLAIN, a terrible event -- an isolated house trailer explodes and burns on a deserted field -- is at the center of a story that takes viewers through the years and back again, moves repeatedly from Oregon to Mexico and New Mexico, and tells the tales of some of the people touched by the tragedy. In the trailer, a mother of four (Kim Basinger) and a father of two (Joachim de Almeida) -- not married to each other -- are killed while in the midst of their illicit (but loving) affair. The many people affected by their relationship and its violent demise include a self-destructive restaurant manager (Charlize Theron), her lovers and a mysterious man who's stalking her, a crop-dusting pilot and his little girl, and the lovers' teen children. How these people are related to the explosion -- and how their lives are inevitably locked together -- is revealed slowly and mysteriously.

Is it any good?

 

The Burning Plain is the first directorial effort by Guillermo Arriaga, who wrote Babel, 21 Grams, and Amores Perros. This movie, like those earlier films, tells its story in a nonlinear manner, moving backward and forward through the years and from place to place while focusing on a variety of characters. At first these shifts may seem random, often confusing. As the film's multiple characters and story lines converge, it's the audience's job, along with the filmmaker's, to put the pieces of the puzzle together and come to a satisfying conclusion.

The Burning Plain is made with great care and integrity and showcases fine, earnest efforts from a talented cast (particularly J.D. Pardo as the adulterous father's teen son). But its languid pace and the basic grimness of the characters' lives make it heavy going some of the time.

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What families can talk about

  • Families can talk about the fact that guilt is a recurring theme of the movie. Which characters feel guilty? How do the characters reveal their guilt? Are any of the characters strong role models?

  • How many lives were affected by the behavior of two people who fell in love and had an affair? Can you think of other instances in which many people suffer because of the actions of a few? What can we do to be aware of this fact when we make important life choices?

  • The filmmaker uses a nonlinear storytelling method, with repeated shifts of time and place. What do you think the goal behind that decision is? What does this technique require of the viewer?

This review was written by Renee Schonfeld

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This review was written by Renee Schonfeld
Studio:2929 Productions
Director:Guillermo Arriaga
Cast:Charlize Theron, Jennifer Lawrence, Kim Basinger
Genre:Drama
Run time:107 minutes
Theatrical release date:September 18, 2009
DVD release date:January 12, 2010
MPAA rating:R
MPAA explanation:sexuality, nudity and language
This review was written by Renee Schonfeld
 

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.
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