Burning Palms (2010)

29% of critics liked it
(7 reviews)
32% of users liked it
(1,141 ratings)

BURNING PALMS is a subversive tale that interlaces five stories where no taboo is left unexplored. Framed as a graphic novel come to life, the film unfolds in five popular neighborhoods of Los Angeles as each character careens toward a dark and often comic fate. Santa Monica: Dennis Marx (Dylan… More BURNING PALMS is a subversive tale that interlaces five stories where no taboo is left unexplored. Framed as a graphic novel come to life, the film unfolds in five popular neighborhoods of Los Angeles as each character careens toward a dark and often comic fate. Santa Monica: Dennis Marx (Dylan McDermott) and Dedra Davenport (Rosamund Pike) are waiting at the airport for Dennis' 14-year-old daughter Chloe (Emily Meade). From the second she arrives it is clear that she and her father do not have a conventional relationship. Dedra becomes so distraught and jealous that she kills herself. Westwood: Ginny Chen (Jamie Chung) and Chad Bower (Robert Hoffman) are a young couple in love. When Chad asks Ginny for an unusual sexual request, Ginny continually feels shame for her sin, punishing herself through self mutilation. West Hollywood: Geri (Peter Macdissi) and Tom (Anson Mount) are life partners, though they could not be more different. The two adopt a little girl from Africa named Mahogany (Tiara McKinney), but when the little girl doesn't meet their expectations of how they feel she should act, they abandon her in a state forest. Holmby Hills: Nicholas (Austin Williams), Trevor (Jake Austin Walker), and Colby Pinter (Addison Black) are three brothers who love making mischief and are raised by their pot smoking nanny Mary Jane (Lake Bell). When the household maid Blanca's (Paz Vega) dead child's umbilical cord goes missing, the three boys hold a trial in which a deep secret is revealed about the death of Blanca's baby, which probes Blanca to kill herself. In Sherman Oaks, Sarah Cotton (Zoe Saldana) is a young woman who finds herself a victim of rape. When her rapist flees, he leaves behind a crucial part of his identity: his wallet. Sarah tracks down Robert G. Kane (Nick Stahl) to a local pizza place. Instead of turning him in, Sarah wants him to rape her again. The underlying story beneath Burning Palms' five featured stories, is the different kinds of people who live in the unique neighborhoods that make up the entertainment capital of the world: Los Angeles. There have been previous films similar in design, but their separate storylines always intersect at the end. Burning Palms defies those expectations by keeping the stories separate and distinct. The only commonality is the presence of the "bag lady." There have also been many Los Angeles based films that speak to the 'magic' of Hollywood where struggling underdogs venture, and through twists of fate, make it big. But there is one aspect that is often overlooked and ignored in Hollywood: the average person. This film gives a good look at the people who aren't gracing magazine covers or starring on the big screen. Yet despite having average lives, these people prove that maybe they have a little bit Hollywood magic of their own-showing the world that nothing is ever like it seems. -- (C) New Films

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 52 min.
Directed By: Christopher B. Landon
Genres: Drama, Comedy

In Theaters: Jan 14, 2011 Limited
On DVD: May 24, 2011
Studio: New Films Cinema

Critic Reviews

Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter
Christopher B. Landon's sordid anthology film never quite achieves the balance of melodrama and dark comedy for which it's aiming.
Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
Landon's sardonic view of human nature and deft filmmaking skills - plus a raft of sharp portrayals - keep the viewer from pondering the preposterousness of certain situations and instead encourages going along with the fun.
Peter Debruge, Variety
Making his directorial debut, screenwriter Christopher Landon struggles so mightily to offend that he forgets to supply a rooting interest in his characters.
Rex Reed, New York Observer
Burning Palms is too sick to attract the masses, but he's onto something subversively valid, and the film is never boring.
Brian Orndorf, BrianOrndorf.com
Little sensitivity here, but the film's obsession with grim deeds and sinister turns of fate lends the five stories a welcome kick of ugliness, which is a fascinating screen sensation.
Tim Grierson, Screen International
Touching on taboo themes like rape, incest, and kinky bedroom exploits, Burning is a series of five Los Angeles-set short films that are only superficially provocative.
Andrew Schenker, Slant Magazine
Evinces enough hatred of mankind to make Todd Solondz look like a dedicated humanist.

Read all 7 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Manu G

Five Tales That Will Mess You Up For Life. Not bad yet not great either. This film has many stories which could may be real in real life but totally messed up too. I think the cast was decently good and the director almost achieved his his goal but failed in alot other ways. Five… More
Five Tales That Will Mess You Up For Life. Not bad yet not great either. This film has many stories which could may be real in real life but totally messed up too. I think the cast was decently good and the director almost achieved his his goal but failed in alot other ways. Five tales of madness set in L.A. In "Green-Eyed Monster," a foul-mouthed 15-year-old comes home from private school to meet Dedra, the woman her dad plans to marry. Father-daughter antics creep Dedra out. In "Little Piggy," a woman can't get the stink off a finger she's used to stimulate her boyfriend during sex. "Buyer's Remorse" presents Tom and Gerry, a West Hollywood couple, who buy a child on the black market; she takes weeks to say her first word. In "Kangaroo Court," a nasty kid torments a maid in his household by stealing the placenta of her dead baby. In "Man Eater," a woman tracks down a rapist who has left his wallet at her house. When she finds him, what will she do?
Lorenzo v

"Five Tales That Will F#%! You Up For Life" A subversive tale that interlaces five stories set in Los Angeles, where no taboo is left unexplored as each character careens toward a dark and often comic fate. <center>"Five Tales That Will F#%! You Up For Life" A subversive tale that interlaces five stories set in Los Angeles, where no taboo is left unexplored as each character careens toward a dark and often comic fate. <center>REVIEW</center> If you have a dark humor, and speak cynicism fluently - this movie is definitely worth your time. Usually when a movie depicts a couple of different stories with a common denominator, shown one following the other, not interlacing, it is used in order to show "a bigger picture", which brings me to one of the two only issues with this film (in my opinion): there is no bigger picture. If you're looking for a final scene that will connect all the dots together, you should know there isn't any. It's just not this kind of movie, nothing to be disappointed about. The other thing that might bother you, is the lack of "tightness" in the plots. This becomes very apparent in the different endings - as if the writer had an excellent idea for five sketches, but not a movie. A film that isn't going to be everyone's tea, with some of the set-ups leading to some very outrageous, absurdist scenarios but worth watching only once.
Shawn M

the trailer to this film was everybody's quick opinion on the film as they left the cinema and everybody said how bad and disgusting it was. that made me really want to watch it. It did live up to my expectations and was funny as hell. I'll never look at an Asian girl the… More
the trailer to this film was everybody's quick opinion on the film as they left the cinema and everybody said how bad and disgusting it was. that made me really want to watch it. It did live up to my expectations and was funny as hell. I'll never look at an Asian girl the same again.

Cast

            Jamie Chung as Ginny

            Rosamund Pike as Dedra

            Dylan McDermott as Dennis Marx

            Shannen Doherty as Dr. Shelly

            Zoe Saldana as Sarah Cotton

            Nick Stahl as Robert Kane

            Robert Hoffman as Chad Bower

            Paz Vega as Blanca Juarez

            Peter Macdissi as Gerry

            Anson Mount as Tom

            Emily Meade as Chloe Marx

            Tiara McKinney as Mahogany

            Austin Williams as Nicholas Pinter

            Jason Austin Walker as Trevor

            Addison Black as Colby

            Lake Bell as Mary Jane

            Chandler George Brown as Jeffrey

            Naz Jafri as Dr. Pakora

            Ross Thomas as Lukas 'The Waiter'

            Victoria Patenaude as Bag Lady

            Jonathan McDaniel as Trey

            Adriana Barraza as Louisa Alvarez

            Jim Lau as Tak Bai

            Scott Lunsford as Stud

            Jason Brooks as Steve

            Victor Webster as Paulo

            Haley Tju as Rose

            Kate Albrecht as Tammy Lynn

            Cici Lau as Soon Li

            Fabian Moreno as Hector

            Colleen Camp as Barbara Burns

            Tom Wright as Maxwell Baron

            Cynthia C.K. McFarland as Woman

            Dimitri Diatchenko as Bob

            Brad Martin as Stunt 'Angry Guy'

            Aron Biedenharn Coates as Tammy

            Lisa Marie Dupree as Busty Waitress

            Cheri Thibodeaux as Girl #1

            Jon Polito as Ned

            Edrick Browne as Medical Center Guard

            Chad Rose as Stunt Security Guard

            Jude Cambise as Stunt Mental Patient

            Robin Hart Smith as Stunt Double (Blanca)

            Devin McNair as Stunt Orderly #1

            H.B. Burns as Stunt Orderly #2

            John Bernecker as Stunt Security Guard
See full cast