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