”Fragments” is slow and broken, good acting, good premise… but overall a disappointment.

Forest Whitaker, Kate Beckinsale, Guy Pearce, Jennifer Hudson, Dakota Fanning, Jackie Earle Haley, Josh Hutcherson, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Embeth Davidtz are a very good group of actors showing their craft… but they are not enough to make this movie the hit *it could have been*.

“Fragments” is ultimately a victim of its own style – too many characters – too little time to develop them well and tell everybody’s story.

PS – This movie is rated “R” for violence, adult themes, and language.

 (My spoiler-free review)

“Fragments” (aka “Winged Creatures”) features a great cast of talented actors… which got me to rent it soon after it became available… with all of the main cast mentioned above putting on an acting clinic with their performances.

Whitaker is great as a troubled bad luck guy who finally finds good luck, Beckinsale pulls off a character that you’re forced not to like, Fanning delivers a performance that is good but jarring, Hudson and Pearce and the rest suffer from not enough screen time to really appreciate their work.

There are good production values with framing, symbolism, lighting, and the style of storytelling is not a bad formula – it just may have been the execution of the style that left me a little disconnected from the characters.

There’s a central theme the director seems to be trying to point us to, but then there’s another them, then another… its stylistic… but causes confusion for the audience.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Its not the way this story is told, because we’ve seen this before – 2004’s Oscar winner “Crash” was an ensemble drama with the lives of characters intersecting … and we’ve seen Whitaker in this kind of movie before in “The Air I Breathe” and “Vantage Point”… all three are examples I recommend over this offering… which is a poor version of “Crash”, I give it 5.5 out of 10.

[2nd photo? ] “Fragments”  (aka “Winged Creatures”)

(2009) (rated: R for violent content, sexuality and language)
(1 hr, 40 min)

Starring: Forest Whitaker, Kate Beckinsale, Guy Pearce, Jennifer Hudson, Dakota Fanning, Jackie Earle Haley, Josh Hutcherson, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Embeth Davidtz

Director: Rowan Woods

Genre: Crime/Drama

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

So what did you think?  Please post a comment!

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“Fragments” poster courtesy Sony Pictures

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