FRAGMENTS AKA: WINGED CREATURES

FRAGMENTS MAKE SUM OF WHOLE COMPELLING

Although not a thriller, I felt myself practically holding my breath, anxiously waiting for the next layer to peel off and reveal yet another piece of the puzzle. This movie centers on a group of strangers and their recollections and attempts to cope with a seemingly random shooting at the local diner. The cast is vast and wide and the film compelling and meaningful, mainly: the waitress, a single mother in a tight situation, (Kate Beckinsale), a ordinary man seated at the counter (Forest Whitaker), a doctor just in for some coffee (Guy Pearce), a young girl (Dakota Fanning) who watches as her father is killed then turns to God for all the answers, and her friend (Josh Hutcherson) who stops speaking after the incident.

Additionally, the families related to those involved are also given a closer look: the mother (Jeanne Tripplehorn), the daughter (Jennifer Hudson) the wife (Embeth Davidtz). However the star lit cast, it was the story and the memories and flashbacks that the characters endured and relived over and over that provided the structure. Situations like this happen so regularly that we've become tolerant but when it happens to you, and it could, this may be what it looks like. There is no hero. There is nothing but random events that when put together, make a highly provocative film.

Without a doubt, Forrest Whitaker is one of the brighter spots in this film. His acting looks effortless and when the final shocker comes you really wouldn't have seen it coming. The dimmest star is Dakota Fanning who was rumored to be difficult to work with on the set. Her performance seemed phoned in. "Wait till I get through my awkward years, then I'll be a good actress." She acted. Too much. Aside from that, it didn't handicap the movie one bit. It was real and believable and serves as a reminder how fragile life is and how fragile everyone else's life is too.
Bite: A very interesting and entertaining film.

SUNSHINE CLEANING

SUNSHINE CLEANING IS SPOTLESS
Rose Lorkowski (Amy Adams) wants a better life for her son and herself. After her mother died when sh was young, she has spent her life taking care of everyone but herself. Full of high hopes and positive affirmations, she works as a housekeeper until she can earn her real estate license; her ticket out. She passes the time in a "relationship" with her high school boyfriend, now married to someone else. She struggles to care for her handful of a son, her get-rich-quick scheming father, Joe (Alan Arkin) and her emotionally bruised sister Norah (Emily Blunt). She tries to find solace in the arms of her married ex-high school boyfriend, Mac, but she comes up alone and broken. An opportunity comes knocking; working as a crime scene clean-up worker to which she dives into full force, dragging her sister behind her. Rose exudes confidence and starts to glow with the pride of doing meaningful work and feeling like she is making a difference. Her sister reluctantly joins her as she seems allergic to working in general.
She doesn't like it, but tries her best, perhaps to please her sister and even finding her own self worth. She has spent a lifetime morning the loss of her mother without being sure exactly how to do just that. She is a pathetic mess trying to find some peace of mind.

THE INTERNATIONAL

THE INTERNATIONAL: ZERO TO SIXTY IN THIRTY FIVE MINUTES
Frankly, the whole first half of this movie both bored and confused me. Even though our main character, Interpol Agent Louis Salinger (Clive Owen) is determined to "get the bad guy" he isn't likable. I understand he didn't need to be and references are made about his past that indicate he was coming off some personal demons, just not enough, however, to make me care; loosely followed by Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Eleanor Whitman (Naomi Watts). Perhaps this is the way that their real counterparts act, but this is a movie and I need to feel some kind of connection to the people who are trying to save the day. Ironically enough, the director purposefully made his "bad guys" not bad, but humans who are just trying to take care of their own families and live their own lives. That was a nice touch.

SAW V: Quick Bite

SAW V: NOT MY PROUDEST MOMENT

By now, you should be able to tell my tastes include horror films, but only to a certain extent. When I watched the first in the Saw series, it was with a girfriend, eyes closed most of the time. What interested me is that the killings aren't random, don't take place on a deserted summer campground or after the car runs out of gas on a back road in rural America. Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) is an interesting character and a facinating actor. Although he sets up the "game", he stresses to his undercover partner in a series of flashbacks, that they had a choice and are given options that don't always lead to death. While heralded as the weakest in the series, I liked this one because the gore factor is low (but still gory and yes, I closed my eyes a lot) but the reasoning behind Jigsaw's actions are revealed and he comes off as sympathetic, wanting to make the world a better place; wanting to make people grow and learn from their mistakes. Despite the ick-factor and because of the desire to watch Bell's skill, I made it to the end (which some did not). Still not my favorite genre, but an interesting concept.

Nibble: I liked the psychological and forensic attention, but not the blood and gore.