Burn
Country (2016/Sony DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: D Film: C+
Osman
(Dominic Rains) is an Afghanistan journalist who managed to get
asylum to live in California with his best friend's mother, who also
happens to be the town sheriff. As he searches for a job, the only
thing he could find is to write in the local police blotter. As he
mingles with the locals, he tries to find some interesting (illegal)
he could write about ...but a last thing a reporter should ever do is
get involved with the story in Ian Olds' Burn Country (2016).
Osman
got out of Afghanistan because he was tired of the violence and death
and moved to America, land of peace and freedom, but that only job
he's able to get with the police blotter is once a week for $50. His
first friend is Lindsay (James Franco), a local trouble maker who
tries to show him the dirt behind the communities outcasts and
rednecks of the town, but when Lindsay disappears, Osman uses his
'Afghanistan' journalist skills to search for the 'truth' and what
happened to him. What he finds is more than what he wants and not
what he expected... He left the war in Afghanistan but only to find
same kind violence in America.
This
was a weird film with a lot of weird ambiance music in the
background, it is the story of regardless where you go, there is
always violence and discrimination (in particular towards people from
the Middle East) WHILE people act friendly but it is only on the
surface. But one should question, if you make friends with
hillbillies/junkies/rednecks, is it surprising when they drag you
down with them when there is trouble? Melissa Leo and a surprisingly
solid cast of unknowns also star.
The
anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image and lossy Dolby Digital 5.1
mix are fine for the format, but you know there's more here a Blu-ray
could have revealed. There are oddly no extras considering the
talent here.
-
Ricky Chiang
