Restaurant chef Tom (Matthew Goode) is not easy to work with or to be around. He seems to be the most relaxed around different women he sleeps with, and doesn’t seem to be the most suitable father figure for his son Oscar.
But scenes unfold in a very non-linear fashion and as we put the story together, we realize that Tom hasn’t always been like this. But it takes a while for us to see how happy he used to be, how he much stronger he was and how he lost who he lost.
The beauty of Burning Man lies in Matthew Goode’s acting and the writer/director’s choice of scene editing. If it was edited chronologically, we’d have liked Tom in the beginning, and we’d probably be more understanding of his extreme ways and seemingly lack of parenting skills. But the non-linear telling does a wonderful job how disoriented and messed up Tom is. We feel it. We also feel curious, angry, unsympathetic, sad, hopeful, happy…And never in order and we go through mixed feelings throughout.
It is a good movie, but it is one of those films where how you tell a story is more important than what story you’re telling. We’ve watched stories of loss before. We just haven’t experienced all the complications and frustrations and confusions like this.
Still, it is not for everyone.
Written and directed by Jonathan Teplitzky, starring Matthew Goode, Bojana Novakovic (Edge of Darkness), Essie Davis, Kerry Fox and Rachel Griffiths.
You can watch the trailer here.
Reviews for Matthew Goode Movies:
Brideshead Revisited starring Matthew Goode, Hayley Atwell, Ben Whishaw and Emma Thompson
Chasing Liberty starring Matthew Goode, Mandy Moore, Jeremy Piven & Annabella Sciorra
Leap Year starring Amy Adams and Matthew Goode
Copying Beethoven starring Ed Harris, Diane Kruger and Matthew Goode
