Burn Country

I love weird , interesting 'indie' films that most people dislike but this was a real mess. I went in with an open mind, and little to no expectations and ending up getting nothing out of this. I even read several explanations of what the film meant, what it portrayed but felt completely clueless to why anyone would want to watch this. Bizarre and disconnected

Difficult if you've seen Borat (2006) not to draw obvious comparisons, despite "Burn Country" being a human drama, profound yet also somewhat entertaining.

The character, Osman, (played by Dominic Rains) has arrived fresh from Afghanistan into small-town California, a romantic terrain of rolling mists, deserted beaches, Sequoia trees and American homesteads inhabited, it seems exclusively by white rednecks and new-age hippies.

The refugee-Afghan interpreter, journalist and "fixer" intent on using journalism in his new life sports a mustache and stubble, together with more than a touch of that endearing, unpredictable, quirky nature that got Sacha Baron-Cohen's "Borat" in such trouble with his critics. The obvious nature of Osman's recent violent war- torn past, however that led him to seek asylum on the US is reflected in events that unfold during the not-so-innocent Afghan journalist's familiarization with American backwoods life – inhabited by a community whose tribal "answers" to the problems of their often violent way of living sometimes rivals even Osman's birthplace, continents away, supposedly proving that we are, under the skin not so different from one another.

Osman, at one point purports his reason for coming to America being not the danger, but because he: "got the idea stuck in his head that life started somewhere else……. like you had to get out to have a chance of really living.."

Since the justification for the journalist's asylum in America is never in doubt (with him unable to return home), the depiction of small- town America here ought make Americans feel rightly proud for welcoming a stranger so unconditionally into their close-knit tribe. Burn Country does, in a sense accentuate the need for community over city, notwithstanding its incredibly "fuzzy" attitude towards the dispensing law and order - the positive message from this movie being the power of Human Nature to eventually triumph over personal differences and other adversities.

I loved the idea of a movie highlighting the weirdness of far Northern, Coastal California. I also loved the notion the fact that our lead escaped one crazy version of human nature (Afghanistan), only to find another crazy version in California of all places.

Not that much happens. But the lead guy was mesmerizingly good in his portrayal of an awkward, deeply sensitive, almost dorky newcomer to a country and town that he doesn't understand at all.

He's so earnest in wanting to fit in and be hip. But he's in way over his head. Small rural communities have long histories, and in the case of this place, exceedingly weird ones. He hasn't been there long enough to understand the complexity. Yet you really feel for his dilemma. He wants to get a life and a profession, and do something meaningful. He's itching for it.

Melissa Leo is great as the mother of an old friend of our lead. She's an unemotional deputy sheriff, but also a mother and woman. She comes off very natural.

The opening is extremely weird, yet quite effective, because a bizarre stage play leads our main character to view it as "very free and very American." by virtue of its' weirdness.

James Franco is overexposed. I couldn't buy him as the weird town slacker, because I just kept thinking, "Oh that's just James Franco." He was probably miscast anyways.

Nevertheless, I liked it for its originality, and I don't regret watching. But beware for some violence. I could have done without it.

The sound track is just kind of amazing, the off kilter manner of filming, and some evocative performances add to the unusual atmospheric hum. The little bit of time ive spent deep in the red woods off the beaten track north and west of cultured wine country, and other remote rural places make the setting relatable.

But then again i like off beat film far better than multplex clickbait.

A little confusing trying to see this movie as two titles were used. the movie opening title is Burn Country, but some theaters referred to it as the Fixer. Must have been an old title

Under either title , it is a wild and fascinating film, about Osman who is a fixer. Back in Afghanistan he was a journalist who specialized in being Foreign journalist connection to the people, but he was exiled and with the help of a friend, ended up in a small town in Northern California that doesn't meet his expectations of America, but he tries to make the best of it by doing his best in a crappy job at the local newspaper as a police blogger (basically making police reports sound interesting to the public).

He's a foreign man on American soil, but in a place and culture that not a lot of American's see on the daily.

Burn Country starts out with a simple narrative of Osman trying to make good by doing what he does best, journalism, and he decides to take the only job he can get as a journalist and take it far too seriously.

Melissa Leo, an amazing Thespian who changes her look like she was Daniel Day Lewis to do the part, plays Osman's sponsor in the states, a police sheriff who is the mother of a fellow journalist still over in Afghanistan. She has a very motherly relationship, somewhat trading in one son for another.

James Franco was actually very impressive. I've seen him do small movies like this in which he just does a cameo to sell movie tickets I guess, but he does have a critical role in this beyond that. Nothing fancy, he's not doing anything that you have not seen him do in a Seth Rogen film, but you see this method really works as a supporting actor for Dominic Rains' leading man.

A very good leading man too. Very likable and charismatic. He gets you into the character's story, which is good cause it's basically just watching this guy adjust to a culture not his own.

And Burn Country picked the best setting. It was different enough to me that I was a bit of a fish out of water trying to understand how these people live.

Burn Country starts out as a very clear narrative and then gets a little sir real as Osman experiences the culture clash. Very good.