Frailty

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source: Frailty

Moviecut—Frailty

Stunning. Absolutely stunning. This is a movie about two kids who's father suddenly has a vision. He claims an angel visits him, and tells him that they need to kill "demons". He gets instructions later, and they start rounding up the demons, which are, to the naked eye, ordinary people. They kill these so-called demons with an ax to the head, and chop them up, burying them in the rose-garden. Their father claims he can see their sins when he touches them. The movie continues, with a twist at the end. The thing that I love about this movie, is that it perfectly captures the frailty of human perception. Is their father completely mad? Or, is he telling the truth? The audience is left to decide. Go make the judgment for yourself, and see the movie. Now.

I watched this on a rental-DVD not really expecting too much from it. But it surprised me a bit, and i felt it was a rather fresh take on the tired serial killer/horror-genre. There is a serial killer on the loose, calling himself "Gods hands". One day a man steps into an FBI-agents office claiming that the killer might be his brother. The rest of the film is then told in flashbacks as the man tells of his and his brothers upbringing with a strictly religious and disturbed father. This film is directed by actor-legend Bill Paxton, and also stars Paxton as the disturbed father. And i must say i think he does a good job both directing and acting here. Most of the cast perform well, not least the young boys portraying the brothers in the flashbacks. Also, Matthew McConaughey performs well as one of the grown-up boys. What i think raises this film a little over the usual breed of clichéd horror films are a couple things. First of all the plot twists here (without saying too much) actually surprised me somewhat. And from what i read in the IMDb forums some people STILL don't get it... Also the ideas feel rather fresh, and the mood in the film is well maintained overall. So, don't expect a miracle when you watch this, it's not THE horror movie of the year. But it is solidly entertaining a just odd enough to make it stand out. I rate it 6/10.

The film is very complete in what it is, keeping one continuously interested with the flashbacks to childhood and growing up with such a bizarre father, and interspersing it with the tails of serial murder, one simply cannot go wrong. The very plot in itself, the very story and essence of the film, is entertaining. It is the sort of story that the director (Bill Paxton) could do so much with, and in this case, he really did do a lot with it. From beginning to end you are kept anticipating more and more about what is happening and where the film is going, and the creativity that is behind this story is first class. I felt as if this film was exquisitely done from start to finish, and one of those rare gems that seemed to be without any boring lulls -- the action flowing neatly, quickly, and tightly from one scene to the next. It demonstrates just how far people can go: so as to do such horrible things to their loved ones, and to do such acts of evil, in the name of 'God' when they are disillusioned as in this case. It also is sometimes interesting in its' twists & takes on the concept of morality as a whole. Overall, this is the sort of film that one easily overlooks, but I would recommend you to not do likewise and to check this film out -- it is very much so worth your time.

For the first eighty minutes, this was a scary, brilliantly acted, amazing movie. Unfortunately, somebody apparently felt that a "trick" ending was absolutely neccessary. In my opinion, the last twenty minutes were quite weak and undermined the movie considerably. Still, I'll give it 7 out of a possible 10 stars.

I do. It is the only thing that makes this movie work. The first 90% of this movie is a depiction of child abuse that would not be tolerated in any community that I would be willing to live in. The last 10%, the payoff, illustrates the fact that Paxton is a southerner -- and stupid. Serial killers are evil. No matter their religious belief what they do is wrong. Paxton doesnt get this! A poor crossover from bad actor to even worse director.

The acting was very dry and uninspired, and the plot was equally monotonous. The flashback device was used poorly to put it mildly. If you take everything as presented literally, the movie attempts to justify murder in the name of religion. If you don't, then you can garner no moral message or meaning at all from the film. *SPOILER* The film attempted to pull a Sixth-Sense style ending switcheroo, but it was more of an afterthought, and the last several minutes seem to have been forcefully appended to the rest of the plot.

It's funny, I never intend to post negative reviews here on the IMDB, but time and again I see films unworthy of praise recieving far too much. A textbook case in point is "Frailty". Many critics praised this film, and it has a high rating on IMDB. But what makes it good exactly? Well, taken on the level as a straightforward thriller the movie is more than adequate. And if you were to classify this as a horror film, it would automatically be disintiguished by its talented cast, notable rookie director, and challenging theme. Unfortunately, the film is an utter load of ridiculous spiritual hokum? What is the message here? It seems like a load of bull from the religious right. However, even the religious minded may reject the brutality of the message. Killing "demons" in God's name is OK? I don't understand the point of this film. Especially since although many viewers rave about the movies great "twist", it's that undisputable moment that utterly ruins the entire film. Had "Frailty" condemned the killers, or at least been more ambigious, I would have been fine with this film. But instead, likely for the sake of that stupid "twist" and to make the film more pleasing as mass entertainment, it becomes a stupid piece of religious vigilantism. On a technical level, solid. But as an enjoyable movie? I hated hated hated this film. Hey, they should have just changed the title so I would have known to stay away: "God wants you to kill bad people: A practical guide" utter hogwash.