- BURNING PLAIN, THE (DVD MOVIE)
A SHOCKINGLY MOVING FILM THAT BURROWS DEEP BENEATH THETABLOID-SIZED HEADLINE STORIES OF AILEEN WUORNOS, THE MAN-HATING SERIAL KILLER EXECUTED LAST YEAR IN FLORIDA.Critics have universally praised Charlize Theron's performance in
Monster, and the praise, for once, is astonishingly deserved. The gorgeous star of
The Italian Job and
The Cider House Rules vanishes into the character of Aileen Wuornos, a real-life serial killer and prostitute who murdered at least seven men in Florida.
Monster traces her relationship with a young woman named Selby (Christina Ricci,
The Ice Storm,
Buffalo 66), which intertwines with Wuornos's murder spree. This remarkable movie finds compassion for Wuornos but unflinchingly faces her brutal crimes; Theron expresses this woman's horrific life history without softening her terrifying, dead-eyed! stare. This is a gripping, devastating performance, a physical and psychological transformation comparable to Robert DeNiro's in
Raging Bull. The movie's moral and emotional complexity wouldn't succeed without this searing performance--but succeed it does, and it will stick with you for some time afterward.
--Bret FetzerAcademy Award® winners Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger star in this romantic mystery about hope, redemption and second chances. Sylvia (Theron) is a woman on the edge whose cool, professional demeanor masks a deeply troubled, sexually charged storm within. When a stranger from Mexico confronts her with her mysterious past, she is launched into an emotional journey back to the defining moment of her life. Gina (Basinger) is a housewife trapped in a loveless marriage who finds solace and passion in an illicit affair. Though separated by time and great distances, these women find their lives linked by the forces of love and fate.A painful secre! t separates a mother and daughter in
The Burning Plain,! the fea ture directorial debut by the screenwriter of
Babel,
21 Grams, and
Amores Perros. The story moves fluidly in time: In the present, Sylvia (Charlize Theron) seems to be leading a confident life as the manager of an expensive restaurant, but it’s a mask covering promiscuity, self-mutilation, and suicidal impulses. Many years earlier, a young girl named Mariana (Jennifer Lawrence,
The Bill Engvall Show) tries to piece together what led her mother (Kim Basinger) into an extramarital affair...even as Mariana herself falls into a dangerous relationship with the son of her mother’s lover. These threads and more are interwoven into an increasingly potent knot.
The Burning Plain has some obvious dialogue and a few off-key notes, but despite that is a striking first effort by Guillermo Arriaga. Theron has always been best in roles that draw on anger and pain, like her astonishing performance in
Monster; she goes bland when called on to por! tray nobility and happiness, but give her inner demons and her remarkable beauty roils with hidden emotions. The rest of the supporting cast--including John Corbett and Robin Tunney in small roles--turn in strong work. Like a boa constrictor, the movie slowly coils around you, then squeezes.
--Bret Fetzer
2:47 AM
Blog Fasion
