Fragments Reviews

An okay dramatic movie that was good in some parts and boring in others.

This calm yet intense drama tells the story of a few survivors of a diner shooting and how they deal with the violence they were exposed to or the loss of loved ones. In somewhat unconnected story lines we follow the characters during the days after the event and see how differently they react, how they turn towards God, gambling, fear, indifference and deal with the newly experienced lack of control in their lives. The acting by an excellent cast (Dakota Fanning, Guy Pearce, Forest Whitaker) is top notch and although all characters have a bit of an epiphany at the end of the film, it still doesn't offer an overall solution. How could it? The movie may not grasp the complexity of such a situation in its entirety, but it's still an interesting look at what people go through in such extreme situations. Worth seeing.

"You have to lose your way to find it."

A group of strangers form a unique relationship with each other after surviving a random shooting at a Los Angeles diner.

REVIEW
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.

Good ensemble drama like Babel, Magnolia and Traffic with the terrific ensemble cast. Many of these actors provide performances that prove they have more potential than I had previously thought. The film is about numerous characters who witness a murder, and the PTSD that follows them around afterward, and most of the actors have to portray a different PTSD side-effect with his or her performance, and all of them do it very well.
I never believed that Kate Beckinsale had anything to her name besides hot looks, but she plays a stressed-out mother very convincingly. As Dakota Fanning moves towards adulthood, she handles a particularly tricky (and religion-heavy) performance with ease.

Really well done - it shows a group of people who are caught up in a shooting at a cafe and how each deals with it. Obviously not a feel good movie, but good. The whole cast are excellent.

All star cast of actors that centers around a tragic diner shooting rampage that leaves many dead and the survivor's lives in despair. Excellent story about coping with pain and tragedy. Some turn to religion, others to gambling, some to alcohol, and others just bottle it inside. The director did a fantastic job shooting this film. I love the constant flashbacks to the shooting, each time learning a little bit more of what really happened. It keeps you intrigued. The cinematography was beautiful, and the score was perfect.

Dakota Fanning was, once again, the shinning star here. She's amazing to watch in these kind of touching roles. Forest Whitaker, Guy Pearce, and Kate Beckinsale were all excellent as well. And it was nice to see Jeanne Tripplehorn back in a big role. Jennifer Hudson's role was absolutely pointless though. Seriously, wtf? They could've saved some money and hired my neighbor. Her role was brief, pointless, and not complicated.

Fragments originally was titled Winged Creatures which would've been a more fitting name. But this drama does tend to move a bit slow, but if you let yourself in these character's lives, you'll be impressed with how touching this film truly is. Very underrated film in 2008.

Whitaker, Pearce and Haley. Those three names alone are enough to warrant this a viewing. Nevermind the other stars that litter this interesting, if ultimately unfulfilling film. It centers it's attention on a group of people that survive a shooting in a restaurant. Each of the characters deals with it in their own way. From gambling to silence. It's a great concept which eventually gets bogged down in characters. With so many in 90 minutes it's hard to really connect. Magnolia was twice the length and so had more room to explore. Each character's arc seems more like notations, with only the most dramatic ups and downs recorded. It's a shame as when Pearce talks about how strange it feels to have held the door open for the shooter on his way in, it suggested a more complex and intriguing evaluation on the event. We are still treated to a beautiful looking film aided by excellent performances. But when all the film has to say is that "people deal with grief in many different ways which can often be destructed" it's hardly a revelation.

This movie has an incredible cast, and they all did well, however I felt this film was a little slow moving. The secret at the end of the movie wasn't that great. It wasn't shocking or powerful, and although its true that people deal with grief differently, I just didn't see how Guy Pearce's character would *SPOILER* try to drug his wife. To me it felt like someone just threw that in to make the story more interesting, but it really felt out of place.

However I liked how in the film, they kept showing clips of the shooting at the diner throughout the film. Showing little glimpses of what happened. And I was also most impressed with Josh Hutcherson. Although he didn't speak much in the film, I felt he had the most powerful performance. And he was the most believable actor. He did a great job with his emotions.

I think this movie had some potential. I just would have liked to see it played out a little differently.

Good cast. The "big secret" of the movie was really dumb though. Who cares if her dad was scared? He had a gun pointed at him - who wouldn't be?

It's both a shock and a relief to see such an all-star cast participating in such a small-scale story-- but Fragments (formerly titled Winged Creatures) might have benefited from a tighter, less approximative script that efficiently used all the talent on display. It's a film that speaks about the different (and all equally disturbing) ways an act of unexplainable violence affects lives directly or indirectly touched by it. That's it. There is no bigger preoccupation to the narrative, which plays out the aftermaths of the life-shattering moment with a minimum of inventivity but little to no Silver Screen Bullshit. That's no enough to qualify Fragments as a must-see, but it is enough not to call it a failure.

The middle third of the screenplay is actually pretty dull, but it nevertheless finds a way to get back on track, right up to its quietly powerful conclusion-- it lets the talent of Dakota Fanning and Josh Hutcherson shine through with great sensibility, turning what looked like mannered and closed-in performances into rich emotional portraits. Among the cast members, the most striking performance has to be Kate Beckinsale's, who is as heartbreaking and penetrating as I've ever seen. Forest Whittaker and Jeanne Tripplehorn, unfortunately, are on autopilot in largely pre-defined roles. Anyways, the end result is not necessarily boring to watch, but it is unremarkable in more than one way. If you can read from this review that I am not disinterested nor enthusiastic in my writing, it's because there is little to be said about this honest, thoroughly correct but mostly shapeless film.

This should have been a really good solid movie. It has an excellant cast from all generations. The performances didn't lack one bit. And the foundation of the story line is excellant. These characters are all very deep and complex, and could have a film each. I really do not think that an hour and a half is nearly long enough to explore and explain these characters sufficiently, and as such the film ends up leaving me feeling empty about each character, not engaging or committing anything with them. It felt unfinished. Like a whole 45 minutes was left sitting on the editing room floor. Your left with questions about their lives and all the small characters in it. Their own personal lives was explained without any depth at all. I really wanted to know more about them. Overall the movie becomes unenjoyable and I become uninterested, and in the final lines of the film, rather than a beautiful thought provoking poem it seems little more than meaningless drivel.

all star cast breathes life n2 this one several interescting stories deal with the fall out of a restaurant shooting

Kind of good, kind of weird. A great cast!!! I think the story had a lot of potential. I don't quite get the climatic ending, as it was actually pretty anti-climatic. Forest Whitaker is a favorite of mine. J Hud's role was much smaller than I had hoped. I felt for the young man who didn't speak after the incident. Dakota is a great little Actor, but I couldn't feel for her character at all. She seemed way too strong and too emotionless. The single mom story line was kind of Hollywood stereotypical. She lived in a trailer, neglected her child, and needs a man in her life. That really upsets me. Perhaps as a single mom myself, it's an area I am sensitive about. I know I have and would do anything for my son, and he's always come first.

I don't see why there was even the Munchhausen's story line. It was a little weird, and hard to follow, but I guess I find that syndrome itself weird and hard to understand. Were they trying to say this was a result of the diner incident? He needed to be a hero perhaps?

All in all it was a pretty good movie. It fell a little short of greatness, I think because of that "big secret", that turned out to be not that big of a deal...

I thought this movie was actually quite good. It does the interweaving story structure business extremely well; the stories are all believable and compelling . . . I suprisingly good movie IMO.

This is a mutli-line story that wants you to follow the lives of the people that are affected by a random senseless act of violence. The cast plays their parts very well and each one is believable in their own right. Definitely worth watching and even though it is boring and draggy in parts, it's that kind of movie so expect it. It is one of those movies that will have you talking with your loved ones after it's done..To quote Martha Stewart, "It's a good thing"...

So, for this one the Cast what got me intersted.When a bunch of nmes like that get together it usually means something big. I am glad I gave it try because it turned out to be a very emotionl movie. But, it was very confusing with the back and forth stuff, I've seen moies that did much better job at telling multilple stories and was very slow at times. Overall it was good enough to keep me watching and I give it 3 1/2 becasue of the cast.

I really thought that this was going to be a good movie. But it was not what I was expecting. Dakota Fanning is such a great young actress but I have to say this one that I liked. The movie keeps going back and forth and its just the samething over and over. Kate Beckinsale is also a great actress but I have seen better movies.

Well acted but a bit too scattered, and the plot feels very familiar. It's not a bad film, but it just doesn't stand out, nor is it particularly memorable. Just one of those average flicks.

The audience is made a character and a witness. We are brought along the path of destruction and the weak attempts at coping. We are only a piece of the puzzle- not the whole. We only see a piece.