Fragments

source: Fragments

A California diner serves as the backdrop of this story in which several different lives happen to be at the wrong time. A lone gunman enters the place and proceeds to shoot people without any apparent motive. The dead victims at least are at peace, the survivors must make adjustments to their lives, as they must go on suffering individual tragedies. The consequences of a criminal act affects the principals in different ways. Faith is something Anne, the young teenager, is what she has a lot of. When her father dies in the tragedy, she becomes a sort of religious fanatic, trying to get all her friends, especially the disturbed Jimmy, into her way of life. The pathetic waitress Carla, secretly pining after Dr. Bruce Laraby, uses the excuse of her baby being sick in order to see him at the nearby hospital. Charly, a cancer patient, is affected in a different manner by going to a casino where he wins a fortune, only to see it disappear, while her daughter worries about him. Jimmy, who was with Anne at the moment of the killings, becomes paralyzed with fear and can't speak as a result of his trauma. Dr. Laraby's troubled marriage to his wife Joansuffers also as he flirts with Carla. "Fragments" was the title of this film as it was distributed locally. Australian director Rowan Woods, whose "Little Fish" was a revelation, doesn't bring anything new to the movie. Perhaps was the adaptation by Roy Frierich, who wrote the original novel, that doesn't translate well to cinematic terms. What Mr. Woods got was good acting in general. The director moves his large cast effortlessly. Dakota Fanning is amazing, as always, playing the born-again Anne. Jeanne Triplehorn is seen as her grieving mother. Kate Beckingsale appears as the waitress Carla. Forest Whitaker has some good moments as Charly. Guy Pearce and Embeth Davidtz are fine as the couple facing a crisis. Although flawed, the film makes a valuable statement.

There are quite a few very good actors in the movie and everyone in it delivers a stellar performance. The story is intriguing enough to hold your attention and be entertaining at the same time. But as another reviewer also stated, it does have a few flaws, that might actually let the movie down for you. First of all, you shouldn't start comparing it to "Crash" or other movies (especially because it most likely is only the same as those movies mood-wise), but take it for what it is. Of course many different actors means many different stories to tell. Therefor leaving a few stories with less focus than the other (at least that might be the way you absorb and feel the movie). Still, if Drama is your cup (of tea/coffee), than go ahead and give it a try. You can't go completely wrong with that I'd say

One of those crazed and deliberate gunmen we hear so much about lately enters a coffee shop in a Los Angeles suburb and begins plugging people one by one, including himself. This causes a couple of deaths and multiple psychological problems for the five survivors -- Kate Bekinsale as the waitress; Forest Whitaker as the self-destructive cancer patient; school girl Dakota Fanning and her friend Josh Hutcherson; and the doctor Guy Pearce. Each handles the post-traumatic stress in his or her own way. It's all unremittingly depressing. Bekinsale seems to somehow contaminate her infant and he wails all the time, disrupting her life. Whitaker heads for the nearest casino and recklessly bets until he wins something like one hundred large before losing it all, having to borrow from the mob to continue his spree, and then being battered when he can't pay it back on time. Fanning turns into a religion freak who carries around in her head a faulty recollection of her father's bravery in the café. Hutcherson, who has a lesser role, becomes mute. Pearce, who was leaving the café as the killer entered and actually held the door open for him, mixes some kind of potient for his migraine-ridden wife that almost kills her. None of the performances can be faulted. They're all professional and some, like Fanning's, Pearce's, and Whitakers, are rather better than that. But good performances don't relieve the gloom, and the ending is improbable, to understate the fact. For instance, I don't know how Whitaker manages to pull a check for one hundred thousand dollars out of his sock at the end, when we'd been led to believe he'd lost it all and quite a bit more. And it's difficult to imagine how elective mutism is going to clear up if the patient hears someone else talk about the precipitating event. And I don't know what Pearce did to his wife's soup -- or why he did it. Yet it all ends happily, so to speak, with a brief philosophical obiter dictum by Fanning that sounds fine, what with "pieces falling into place," but explains nothing. Post-traumatic stress is a serious condition and it deserves the serious treatment it gets here. It's too often dismissed as some perverted form of self pity, but it was genuine enough to ruin Audie Murphy's life -- that's Audie Murphy, kids, the most decorated soldier of World War II (and movie actor) whom no one would accuse of feeling sorry for himself. And I've interviewed Vietnam veterans in the VA hospital in Palo Alto who were near suicide because of survivor's guilt. In any case, I'd applaud this film because, in spite of its weaknesses, it was made for adult viewing and there's virtually no sex and no brains being blown out. I would imagine that for many of today's viewers, that presents something of a challenge. If you want to see a similar movie, but a better one, with no clapped-together simple ending, see if you can get a copy of the Canadian feature, "The Sweet Hereafter."

This film smacks of being made by folk who think they have very high IQ's. It is a very pretentious little bit of film making that attempts to examine what it is like to survive an act of uncommon violence in an urban setting. Many people do survive acts of violence in urban settings and usually the common consensus is that they are glad they survived instead of feeling nothing in particular, which is more or less how this film portrays the survivors, who immediately engage in recalcitrant acts that cross the line into outright criminality after about 24 hours passes from the initial incident. This is bad film making. The characters are stupid. Forest Whitaker is particularly ridiculous in this one. There is no way you would even want to identify with the characters in this movie. Really, it is that bad. I found myself thinking, they survived-so what-they are all morons. Avoid it.

Film about the aftermath of a shooting in a diner on the lives of the survivors, including the doctor who treats some of them and who just missed being part of the tragedy. Good multi-character story doesn't quite soar like the titled characters. There are too many characters for its brief running time (Man feeling lucky as a result decides to go on a gambling spree, the gambler's daughter, a waitress with a small baby, a doctor, two kids who bond but have their own problems, and the people around them) which means that some of them feel more rounded than others. Forrest Whitaker as the gambler seems to come off best, certainly he's the most likable. Kate Beckinsale is very good in what seems like a bland role as the waitress. It takes a great deal of effort in order to be that run of the mill and real. On a personal level I wasn't really thrilled with the tone of the film. I know this is a contemplative film but to me every moment seems to be dripping with deep meaning and almost lost in thought. Its not bad as such but the film seems to be screaming "Look at me! I'm deep and Meaningful!" as if its afraid to let the film's characters and situations speak for themselves. Worth a look, just don't expect the next "Crash" which this film seems to be trying to be.

"Winged Creatures" wants very much to make A Statement about modern life: the interconnectedness of human beings, the devastation wrought by random shootings that have become an unfortunate cliché in American communities, and the shock waves that erupt from the epicenter of these violent acts. Fragmentation can be an effective storytelling device for this kind of drama, and "Winged Creatures" has some impressive predecessors. Despite the movie's imitative efforts, however, "Crash" it ain't. "Creatures" follows the aftermath of an act of anonymous violence in an anonymous diner full of anonymous people in an anonymous working class neighborhood. Writer Roy Freirich and director Rowan Woods want to draw us in with Everyness of their characters: Clara, a young, single-mom waitress (Kate Beckinsdale); Charlie, a middle-aged man (Forest Whitaker) with more serious matters on his mind than trying to get Clara to do her job; Anne and Jimmy, two young friends (Dakota Fanning, Josh Hutcherson) who cower under a table when the shooting starts; Dr. Laraby, an emergency room physician (Guy Pearce) who decides to find out what it really means to play God. All of this is familiar territory. Handled well, films of this nature engage us with recurring "A- ha!" moments and sparks of true insight into the human condition. Unfortunately, "Winged Creatures" never quite reaches those heights. The back stories are unimaginative and sometimes contradictory. Motivation for Pearce's doctor is hinted at, but never concretized, making his personal about-face downright baffling. Instead of graceful complexity, "Winged Creatures" settles for clunky symbolism that has all the depth of a coat of paint and the subtlety of a jackhammer. I wanted—and tried—to like this movie. I enjoy films that ask me to follow a cat's-cradle maze of intertwining stories. I think that pop culture is uniquely qualified to help us forget about the banality of evil and reignite our tendency to care when bad things happen to good people. And the "Winged Creatures" cast, including Jeanne Tripplehorn, Embeth Davidtz, Jennifer Hudson, and Jackie Earle Haley in supporting roles, is talented and deserves material that showcases its diverse strengths. Despite my best efforts, however, I simply couldn't overlook the weaknesses in the script and direction. Ultimately, "Winged Creatures" never gets off the ground.

Although the movie could have been produced much better than it actually was, the story is still a good one. The story of such a touching tragedy which has become all too common in our day, and the way people react to it, directly and indirectly, intentionally and inadvertently. There is nothing unique about it that make this movie stand out from the mountain upon mountains of movies that just build dust on my book case, there is no cinematography, no amazing camera shots, and no memorable lines to be completely honest. But if you're looking for a movie that is just a good adaptation of a well received novel, then this is the movie to see. Not life changing, but enjoyable nonetheless.

Attracted by the ensemble talent on offer, together with an interesting narrative premise, Fragments looked like a safe bet. The promising opening left the viewer in little doubt that in such a horrible situation a) there but for the grace of god go I, and b) bearing first-hand witness to an unexplained and seemingly random shooting must unleash a spectrum of traumatic reactions in any group of strangers. But - and it's a really big 'but' - I fear that only in America would such subsequent emotional lid-blowings include poisoning your wife, disappearing off on a casino binge, or developing a messiah-like and very 'adult' god complex when you're only 9 years old. Yawn. Call me a stiff-upper-lip-Brit if you like, but where did all this bullshit come from? It says more about the geographical isolation of USA than anything else. Any redeeming features? Well the director Rowan Woods managed to weave the various narrative threads together seamlessly enough, and at least it was only just over an hour and a half long, even if it did feel like double. To my mind though, Rowan didn't manage to generate any degree of empathy for his characters, and I was left wishing the gunman had blown away a few more of the diners' customers, to save us all from such turgid twaddle. So in summary - dear oh dear America, you really do need to get out more. And I don't just mean day-trips to Canada. Meantime, if the reader wants to see a decent film about random shootings, then can I suggest you grab a copy of Gus Van Sant's 'Elephant' off E-bay instead - it's far superior to this self-indulgent drivel. 3/10.

I love ensemble movies with intertwined plots. I thoroughly enjoyed 'Crash' (even though it was heavily flawed), really liked 'Babel' and 'The Hours', 'Happy Endings' and 'Magnolia' are among my favourites. Even though 'Winged Creatures' (a.k.a. 'Fragments') does not reach the level of the aforementioned movies, it was an interesting watch (better than 'Powder Blue'). The link between the characters' lives is shown in the very first sequence and the stories follow thereafter. 'Winged Creatures' is a very subtle film. This is both a strength and weakness. There are certain actions that the characters commit the reason of which is understood by the end. However, some of them seem a little too far-fetched and hard to believe. For example, why is Laraby checking up the side-effects of medicines on the Internet when he's an accomplished doctors? Even for someone who's affected by post-traumatic stress disorder (a key theme in the movie), this is a little too out there. It would have been more convincing if the story was more developed and the viewer was allowed to see Laraby's inner struggle. Guy Pearce does a good job. In a small role, Embth Davidtz makes her presence felt. The Kate Beckinsale track is quite well-handled. There's a sequence in the film where one can register the disappointment on her face after she was about to answer the reporters' questions when they immediately switch to the family of the dead guy who just walked out of the hospital. This hints Carla's struggle for attention which leads to her promiscuous behaviour and to a form of Munchausen's syndrome such that she deliberately starves her child for the doctor's attention. Beckinsale delivers a first rate performance. Jimmy and Anne were two teenagers who were witnesses of the shootout in which Anne's father was murdered. Here there is an uneven balance between drama and subtlety. I found Anne's sudden religious devotion and Jimmy taking the gun to the crime scene (to threaten Anne?) hardly believable and her mother is the typical mom while Jimmy's father is the typical dad who hates shrinks. Jackie Earle Haley and Jeanne Tripplehorn are strictly okay. Dakota Fanning is wooden except in the final scene where she plays by the formula. Troy Garrity is good but the real star here is Josh Hutcherson who draws the viewer with Jimmy's restraint and mental anguish. Charlie's storyline is poorly presented. I found the gambling scenes to be repetitive. The scenes of his daughter and the detective could have easily been left out. The prostitute scene was a cliché that has been repeated since 'Leaving Las Vegas'. Forest Whitaker is alright. Jennifer Hudson is forgettable. Marshall Allman shines. After the shooting sequence, 'Winged Creatures' initially moves at a sluggish pace. At times , it feels too fragmented because of lack of story development. The execution is pretty ordinary, if anything. The cinematography is flat. The soundtrack is far from outstanding. The film could have used some more editing. Give then plusses and minusses, it is a movie at least worth a one-time watch.