Burning Palms review

            The cast is far too good for the material in this film. Burning Palms is one of those annoying films that are split up into five unfinished and incomplete stories, whose only point is to shock and offend. There are no twists, juts sad and disgusting stories about madness and dysfunction (mostly sexual in nature) in Los Angeles. It is an ugly film with no point, message, or even worthwhile entertainment value. But it does have a good cast.

            Each of the five stories are more annoying or gross than they are engaging or interesting, and they are all rather straightforward. Nearly all of them feel like there is a twist at the end coming, but instead just ends pathetically with a whimper each time. This would be fine if the five stories were any good, but there are just purposefully offensive instead.

            The first story is about a father (Dylan McDermott) and his uncomfortably close relationship with his teenage daughter, which causes problems between him and his fiancée (Rosamund Pike). The second tale is about a college girl who goes crazy after an unusual sexual request from her boyfriend. The third follows the idiotic portrayal of gay men adopting an African child. The fourth is about a high mother (Lake Bell), her unruly children and the abused maid (Paz Vega). The film closes out with a weird rape, starring Zoe Saldana and Nick Stahl.