Parents' Guide to

Burn Country

By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Drama about Afghan "fixer" in U.S. has mature content.

Movie NR 2016 102 minutes
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A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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What's the Story?

BURN COUNTRY tells the story of Osman (Dominic Rains), an Afghani translator who helped American journalists cover his war-torn country and is now in exile. He thinks that the beautiful, seemingly sleepy Northern California town he's escaped to will be calmer than the dangerous place he's come from, but he's mistaken. Osman is staying with Gloria (Melissa Leo), the mother of an American journalist he worked with back in Afghanistan. She's a local police officer, and Osman's natural interest -- and her access to crime -- draws him into the messy lives of a renegade criminal family and its hangers-on. When a dead body appears and a local drunk/hot tub builder disappears, Osman's curiosity is aroused. But as it switches between scenes of Osman looking for trouble in California and those of the American journalist he worked with still in Afghanistan, running for cover from bombs and enemy fire, the movie suggests that Osman may be looking more for thrills than for meaning in his life.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

The plot of this drama meanders and, based on its ending, it seems the filmmakers aren't that interested in resolution. Burn Country was originally called The Fixer and is loosely based on director Ian Olds' own 2009 HBO documentary Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi. Both involve an Afghan journalist/translator/coordinator helping American journalists negotiate the perils of covering war-torn Afghanistan. Perhaps Olds' experience making documentaries, in which the plots come ready-made from real events, explains why he seems to pay less attention to events than character in this drama. But even favoring people (and their quirks) over plot feels mishandled here. Crimes have certainly been committed, but their motives -- and the exact perpetrators -- are left vague.

Also unclear is why, in just a few days, the supposedly war-hardened Osman develops loyalties to undeserving screw-ups. It might be possible that, at first, he believed the small town he'd landed in was a haven from evil. But no one in his line of work -- i.e. anticipating and avoiding danger -- could possibly be so naive after encountering so many clearly bad guys. How long would a fixer survive in a war zone thinking the best of everyone? Yet we're asked to accept that, after all he's seen on the job, he now worries about the safety of small-time criminals he barely knows. Nope. James Franco co-stars an over-the-top, intoxicated, and pathetic ne'er-do-well -- a heartfelt but cliched homage to all the ranters and ravers Dennis Hopper famously played in the same obvious manner. The saving grace is good performances by Rains, Leo, and the always interesting Rachel Brosnahan.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about Burn Country's violence. Which has more impact -- Osman's stories of wartime Afghanistan or the scenes of the attacks and the bloody body in the States? Why?

  • Osman says that observing so much violence in Afghanistan was exhausting. What else do you think being a witness to a lot of violence can do to a person?

  • How does the movie portray drinking and drug use? Are they glamorized at all? Why does that matter?

  • Do you think it would be hard to move to a new place and learn a new language and a new culture?

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