hyped garbage

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

2008's "Fragments," aka "Winged Creatures," was not released in theaters and, after seeing it, I can see why. This is a poignant drama that balances the beauty, mystery, mundaneness and horror of the human existence in the manner of "Snow Angels" (2007), "Grand Canyon" (1991) and "Crash" (2004). Unfortunately, it's not nearly as effective.THE PLOT: After a random killing spree at a diner five of the survivors deal with survivor guilt and post-traumatic stress.The movie had great potential but somehow the story fragments don't quite come together into a satisfying whole (sorry). The first bad sign for me was the unconvincing acting immediately following the killing spree by Josh Hutcherson (Jimmy) and Forest Whitaker (Charlie). Thankfully, after that, everyone rises to the challenge. But this leaves a bad first impression. From there, the story become marginally engrossing as we observe the five different story lines, which somewhat interconnect.Like the three films mentioned above, "Fragments" is a study of human nature and the human experience. Attempting to cope, each of the five characters responds to their trauma in a generally destructive way. The five story lines can be summed up as such:*** SPOILER ALERT!!! ***1.) Charlie gambles everything away and physically abuses himself directly (alcohol) and indirectly (failing to pay his debts). 2.) Carla (Kate Beckinsale) neglects her baby while seeking physical intimacy. 3.) Anne (Dakota Fanning) becomes hyper-religious to cover up a lie. 4.) Jimmy clams up, shutting others out, and ultimately arms himself. 5.) Doctor Lareby (Guy Pearce) alternately poisons and saves his wife.*** END SPOILER ***I appreciate the fact that the film shoots for depth and, despite the raw reality of each storyline, there's a tangible air of reverence and spirituality. Of course, any film that reaches for depth and partially fails will be accused of pretentiousness, and so it is with "Fragments."Yes, it's plainly flawed, but if you appreciate psychologically driven films you might want to give this one a look.GRADE: C+

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 is one of those stories where the lives of unrelated individuals are linked by a traumatic event. In this case it is a shooting at a diner in Los Angeles that links the survivors. The film examines how these events effected the lives of those involved. One thing that attracted me to this film was a very strong cast, but I know from bitter experience that this is no guarantee of the quality of the piece. Unfortunately I was less than satisfied with the film. No problem with the quality of the performances, that was a given, it was all very disjointed and ended up as a bit of a mess I'm afraid.Here's a bit about the characters: There's a teenage girl who turns to religion and her friend, a boy who just clams up and won't speak to anyone. There's the waitress who neglects her baby because she feels she cannot connect with anyone any more. There's a man who has medical problems and a gambling habit who takes off to a casino to try his luck, having survived. And then there's the doctor who becomes obsessed with saving every patient, even if he has to make them sick in the first place. The film tells us about all of these characters and their friends and families and how they try to deal with the aftermath.As I said there is a great cast; Kate Beckinsale is the waitress Carla Davenport, Forest Whitaker is the gambler, Charlie Archenault, Guy Pearce is the doctor, Bruce Laraby, Dakota Fanning is the teenager, Anne Hagen and Josh Hutcherson is her teenage friend, Jimmy Jaspersen. I think you can see why I might have been attracted to a movie with these actors involved.The production was pretty good, although it did look like there was a bit of a tight budget. I get the impression that this story would probably work better on the page rather than on the screen. Either that, or something got terribly lost in translation! Unfortunately it all felt far too disjointed to me and the thread of the story got lost. It's almost as if there were too many characters' stories to tell and I felt that removing just one of them would have given the others more room to breathe. Sadly though, it is what it is and I have to give it my NOT recommended seal of (dis)approval.My Score: 4.5/10

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.