'Burning Plain' intrigues, but falls flat

Movie stars Charlize Theron, Kim Basinger, John Corbett, Joaquim de Almeida

September 18, 2009|By Roger Moore, TRIBUNE NEWSPAPERS CRITIC

'The Burning Plain' **1/2

Collaborating with director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Mexican screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga created "Amores Perros," "21 Grams" and "Babel," powerful, critically acclaimed dramas of heart and pathos built on elaborate, interwoven tales. They had a falling-out over the director getting all the credit. And because the screenwriter also wrote the lyrical "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada," Arriaga seemed to have a point.

"The Burning Plain," written and directed by Arriaga, settles the argument. It has the same interlocking stories, the same tricks with time. There's still a chilling "big secret," and a somber tone to the drama.

But whatever it was that made those earlier films spark to life, Inarritu was the one who had it. Arriaga's drama has its moments, but it drags and stumbles between those moments.

Charlize Theron plays yet another in a line of damaged women running from their past in this (see "Sleepwalking," "North Country," "Monster"). But the film's storytelling tricks make it an intriguing outing for her, with a cast that includes fellow Oscar winner Kim Basinger, John Corbett and others.

Theron plays the manager of a high-end seaside restaurant, a woman with some pretty serious sexual hang-ups. She avoids close contact, but submits, willingly, to casual pickups -- the rougher the better. Corbett, of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," plays a cook who is either trying to figure out why he can't get close to her or simply stalking a past conquest.

Meanwhile, in New Mexico (hello, filmmaking incentives), a tragic affair between Basinger and Joaquim de Almeida (badly used here) plays out in reverse order.

Somehow events there connect to the troubled restaurant manager.

"Burning Plain" has all the plot and character trickery of Arriaga's earlier films, but none of the emotion. He wastes a good cast on characters that have no emotional resonance.

But at least he settled that argument with Inarritu. Arriaga writes marvelously intricate scripts. It takes a great director to make those scenarios sing.


MPAA rating: R (for sexuality, nudity and language)

Running time: 1:49

Starring: Charlize Theron (Sylvia), Kim Basinger (Gina), John Corbett (John), Joaquim de Almeida (Nick). Written and directed by: Guillermo Arriaga.