Winged Creatures (2008) User Reviews

Migrate to this film.

[vendude · 7/10 · 15 March 2009]

I love ensemble dramas. Especially when they have the whole "stranger's lives intertwined" thing going on. However, as much as I enjoyed this film, it is not for everyone.

It is slow and heavy, but I can't find much wrong with it. There were a couple of scenes that were poorly developed or written, maybe. All in all, if you're like me, and you like superbly acted and directed films you will enjoy this.

I won't give too much away because I know many have not had the chance to see this yet; it is a simple story of how random lives are affected and forever changed by a pointless and tragic event.

What I liked is how each individual was affected differently. Each character acted and reacted in a different way, and it is watching these behaviors play out that make up the film.

I felt Kate Beckinsale stood out the most in a subtle role. She is going to win an Oscar someday. Of course Forest Whitaker and Dakota Fanning were good, which at this point goes without saying. (Maybe I should erase that last sentence then.) Jush Hutcherson and Jackie Earl Haley, as father and son also stood out. Troy Garity, as the county mental health worker was my favorite though. Again, a subtle performance and the one character I keep thinking about afterward.

This film won't win awards or break any new ground but I like it. It's a small movie about human behavior and getting through tough times and coming out the other end of the tunnel, with a bit of light breaking through.

Clash

[kosmasp · 6/10 · 21 October 2010]

There are quite a few very good actors in the movie and everyone in it delivers a stellar performance. The story is intriguing enough to hold your attention and be entertaining at the same time. But as another reviewer also stated, it does have a few flaws, that might actually let the movie down for you.

First of all, you shouldn't start comparing it to "Crash" or other movies (especially because it most likely is only the same as those movies mood-wise), but take it for what it is. Of course many different actors means many different stories to tell. Therefor leaving a few stories with less focus than the other (at least that might be the way you absorb and feel the movie).

Still, if Drama is your cup (of tea/coffee), than go ahead and give it a try. You can't go completely wrong with that I'd say

The Aftermath of an Urban Violence

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 25 June 2009]

In an ordinary day, a deranged man has a rampage in a diner and randomly shoots the costumers. The survivors of the tragic episode are deeply affected by the shooting and have the most different reactions: the youngster Anne Hagen (Dakota Fanning) becomes popular at school telling her version of the shooting and shows a great faith on God; her friend Jimmy Jaspersen (Josh Hutcherson) becomes mute and closes himself to the outer world like an autist; the waitress Carla Davenport (Kate Beckinsale) neglects her baby and has a vulgar behavior with men; Dr. Bruce Laraby (Guy Pearce) loses his self-confidence and tries an experimental treatment to the migraine of his wife; and the compulsive gambler Charlie Archenault (Forrest Whitaker) believes that he is lucky in the game and gambles all his money but he has a jinx.

"Winged Creatures" is a depressing movie about the aftermath of an urban violence that every now and then happens in North America – shooting in a public space. There are rich characters developed in a short running time that deserved a longer time to explain their motives better. The bleak experiment of Dr. Bruce Laraby with his wife is weird and bizarre, and it is hard to understand his motives. Why Carla neglects her baby is also very strange since the viewer does not know her behavior at home before the tragic incident. Charlie deserves his fate since he is an addicted gambler. However the kids Jimmy and Anne are perfectly developed and have the best drama in the story, with a heartbreaking conclusion. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Efeito da Fúria" ("The Effect of the Fury")

Random and otherwise

[harry_tk_yung · 2 March 2009]

Certain events may be random, but their effect on the people they touched are not. The random event serves as a catalyst to enhance psychological and social conditions that have always been part of these people. In some cases the end results are perilously close to getting out of control. The event referred to is a random shooting in a diner by a psychopath. The movie however is not a study of the traumatic effect on the survivors (although it does look like one initially). What it does is to intensify, heighten and sharpen the problem they already have.

The case of the waitress (Kate Beckinsale) is perhaps the simplest and most common. Here we have a single mother who is too young and pretty to be tied down by a consistently crying baby. But as her tolerance shrinks, the baby becomes a useful excuse for her to make romantic approaches to Doctor Laraby (Guy Pearce) who has treated some of the victims (both physical and emotional, including herself) of the shooting. Disappointingly for her, the doctor's mind is elsewhere.

The doctor's situation is more complex. He is often troubled by his inability to save lives even though his buddy colleague keeps telling him that doctors are not God and there is a limit to what they can do. By sheer chance, he was at the crime scene just before it happened, buying a cup of coffee and even holding the door for the murderer to enter. Failure to save one of the victims sent to his hospital hit him really hard. To compensate for his feeling of insecurity, he administers to his wife (whom he loves) medication that, while treating certain symptoms, has a side effect of creating others (e.g. migrant). That way, he derives a sense of security from his wife always looking towards him as her saviour.

The man whom the doctor has failed to save was in the diner with his young daughter Anne (Dakota Fanning) her friend Jimmy (Josh Hutcherson). Losing the father in a random shooting is of course traumatic but the girl seems to have a nerve of steel, fortified by an evangelical religious zeal. She starts talks about her father's heroic bravery, first to small group, then larger assemblies. But the truth is bottled up inside her.

Jimmy has his own domestic problems. Introvert and timid, he has a brother in a coma from action in the Iran War and parents who simply do not understand him, as most parents with kids in early teens do. His is probably the worse trauma, with the gun pointed at his head as he and Anne were hiding under the table. What is most fatal, however, is Anne calling upon him to witness (in a religious sense) together with her the father's heroic bravery.

The true hero is a compulsive gambler (Forest Whitaker) who could have been shot fatally but gets away with a scratch. Believing that luck is on his side, he lunches into a stint of desperate gambling, gets involved with loan sharks, and then more gambling, all this time with his daughter (Jennifer Hudson) frantically looking for him. While his story is not intended to provide comical relief or balance, it is comparatively lighter, and comes even with a twist that will get a chuckle.

On performance, Beckinsale's role is so commonplace that on the surface it offers little challenge. On the other hand, this makes the portrayal that much more difficult, and Beckinsale is convincing, which says a lot. Whitaker's versatility is amply demonstrated in his role here which cannot be more different from his Oscar winning performance as a psychopathic despot. As a compulsive gambler, he maintains an excellent balance between comedy and pathos. Pearce's is the most awkward role, lacking a clear indication of how much depth is there, psychologically speaking. Going into early teen-hood, Fanning continues to be eerily mesmerizing to watch. Hutcherson, who has been impressive in "Bridge to Terabithia" (2007), continues to show promises. In addition to these main characters, there is a large ensemble cast - aforementioned Jennifer Hudson, plus Jeanne Tripplehorn, Embeth Davidtz, Troy Garity, Jackie Earle Haley and others – giving solid support.

This is not a movie that is entertaining in the conventional way, but satisfying to an appreciative audience.

Unpredicted Terror, Unexpected Consequences

[gradyharp · 7/10 · 15 August 2009]

FRAGMENTS (AKA Winged Creatures) is an uncomfortable movie: the subject matter of spontaneous unsuspected violence and the subsequent impact on the lives of those who survive a near death situation is terrifying. FRAGMENTS takes a moment in time and then reveals how that moment alters the psyche and behavior of numerous people from children to adults. It is disconcerting to watch, but at the same time it makes us face the possibilities of how isolated cracks in the universe can alter our lives. As the tag line suggests 'You have to lose your way to find it.'

The film opens with a day in a Los Angeles diner where a gunman enters and randomly opens fire on the customers at the tables and the staff serving them and then kills himself. We are forced to watch this happen but through the eyes of the people attempting to dodge the attack. Among these are a waitress (Kate Beckinsale), a man seated at the counter being denied attention as he glances at his new brochures on dealing with cancer (Forest Whitaker), a doctor (Guy Pearce), a young girl (Dakota Fanning) who witnesses the murder of her father, a young boy (Josh Hutcherson) whose terror results in his becoming mute, among others. The film then abruptly clips to the fragments that remain - the lives as being lived by the survivors as well as their families - a cast of brilliant cameos by Jeanne Tripplehorn, Jackie Earle Haley, Robin Weigert, Jennifer Hudson and Embeth Davidtz. While none of the characters seem to be people about whom we would care under normal circumstances, the fact that the writer and director (Roy Freier and Rowan Woods) have placed us in the midst of the initial incident allows us to watch the strange transformations that happen to these people as a result of being struck by post traumatic stress - maladaptive behavior toward spouses and children, hiding behind becoming an instant religious zealot, gambling as a disease, and the other splinters the impact of murder and suicide observed at close range can cause. Very little is resolved by film's end but the film does force us to witness something that could happen to any of us and make us re-evaluate our values and abilities to cope with trauma. This is an ensemble cast film, strongly projected, and if the producers and creators of the film merely allowed us more time to get to know each character better the film probably would have been a success in the theaters instead of going straight to DVD. A provocative work. Grady Harp

Snippets

[jotix100 · 6/10 · 16 August 2009]

A California diner serves as the backdrop of this story in which several different lives happen to be at the wrong time. A lone gunman enters the place and proceeds to shoot people without any apparent motive. The dead victims at least are at peace, the survivors must make adjustments to their lives, as they must go on suffering individual tragedies. The consequences of a criminal act affects the principals in different ways.

Faith is something Anne, the young teenager, is what she has a lot of. When her father dies in the tragedy, she becomes a sort of religious fanatic, trying to get all her friends, especially the disturbed Jimmy, into her way of life. The pathetic waitress Carla, secretly pining after Dr. Bruce Laraby, uses the excuse of her baby being sick in order to see him at the nearby hospital. Charly, a cancer patient, is affected in a different manner by going to a casino where he wins a fortune, only to see it disappear, while her daughter worries about him. Jimmy, who was with Anne at the moment of the killings, becomes paralyzed with fear and can't speak as a result of his trauma. Dr. Laraby's troubled marriage to his wife Joansuffers also as he flirts with Carla.

"Fragments" was the title of this film as it was distributed locally. Australian director Rowan Woods, whose "Little Fish" was a revelation, doesn't bring anything new to the movie. Perhaps was the adaptation by Roy Frierich, who wrote the original novel, that doesn't translate well to cinematic terms.

What Mr. Woods got was good acting in general. The director moves his large cast effortlessly. Dakota Fanning is amazing, as always, playing the born-again Anne. Jeanne Triplehorn is seen as her grieving mother. Kate Beckingsale appears as the waitress Carla. Forest Whitaker has some good moments as Charly. Guy Pearce and Embeth Davidtz are fine as the couple facing a crisis.

Although flawed, the film makes a valuable statement.

Too many ideas at once... spoils the broth

[daniel-sorensen-1 · 3/10 · 25 March 2009]

This appears, to me, to be a film about how people react to a horrific experience, both during but mainly afterwards. This is a very interesting topic, and has many possible angles and ideas. The film tries to deal with at least five of these at once: the closed, the lucky, the selfish, the denier and the one who would have saved.

These characters are all very deep and complex, and could have - no SHOULD 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 with them. This in turn means that I become very aware that I am watching a film, and as such start to question and criticize, and not live myself into the film and story.

I am left asking questions that I never get answered (why did Whittaker not just pay them a bit of the 100 grand he made - did he WANT his arm broken?, why did the gunman attack and who was he, what did Bekinsale do after the incident other than visit the doctor after the shooting).

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...

I hope you get more out of it :)

The Talking Cure.

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 26 December 2011]

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."

Long and Slow

[cmdejong3 · 4/10 · 8 August 2009]

The acting was fine but the story was just not that good. This movie just seemed odd. All of the characters have their own story, yet as a whole it is unrealistic - too many unlikely reactions to an event happening at once. I can see that one or two people would loose it a little after going through a traumatic event, but all of the people involved going crazy in their own way just seems overdone. I was bored and wondering how long the movie was, and was shocked to find out it was only an hour and a half long because it felt like it went on forever. I hate to be so negative because I think the actors did the best job they could have given that the story just drug on. I probably wouldn't recommend this movie... regardless of the title they give it!

Good but it tries to do too much with too many for too short a running time

[dbborroughs · 6/10 · 27 April 2009]

Film about the aftermath of a shooting in a diner on the lives of the survivors, including the doctor who treats some of them and who just missed being part of the tragedy. Good multi-character story doesn't quite soar like the titled characters. There are too many characters for its brief running time (Man feeling lucky as a result decides to go on a gambling spree, the gambler's daughter, a waitress with a small baby, a doctor, two kids who bond but have their own problems, and the people around them) which means that some of them feel more rounded than others. Forrest Whitaker as the gambler seems to come off best, certainly he's the most likable. Kate Beckinsale is very good in what seems like a bland role as the waitress. It takes a great deal of effort in order to be that run of the mill and real. On a personal level I wasn't really thrilled with the tone of the film. I know this is a contemplative film but to me every moment seems to be dripping with deep meaning and almost lost in thought. Its not bad as such but the film seems to be screaming "Look at me! I'm deep and Meaningful!" as if its afraid to let the film's characters and situations speak for themselves. Worth a look, just don't expect the next "Crash" which this film seems to be trying to be.

Lameness Personified with bad grade and photography

[otisthorpe · 1/10 · 5 December 2009]

Sorry, this film does not work. It will not be a classic, it will die onto the back catalogs for a buck a week and one day make GRAND CANYON look like a classic by comparison. Lame slow turgid predictable and worst of all boring. Don't blame the cast, they were laboring. The photography is flat and boring and fails to inform the plot. Looks like the shoot days were from 10 am till 3 pm with a long lunch break. The budget spent on the cast looks like it robbed the shoot of anything you'd like to see normally. The director should hang eastern block DPs before he makes a TV movie like this rubbish again. This is not Crash light crash2 or crash the early years its just crap. Would have been better with some decent art direction, photography, music and a re think of the story...IE. don't do any of it.

A very effective and accurate ensemble piece.

[billybobwashere · 8/10 · 28 June 2008]

It's hard to be an ensemble drama in a time when the other films in this sub-genre have a very sturdy track record, with "Crash" being a Best Picture winner, "Babel" and "Traffic" being Best Picture nominees, and "Magnolia" being a cult favorite, among many other popular multi-storied films. Yes, these ensemble pieces all are quite distinctive from one another, but it's very hard to not compare them to each other, as their common goal is the same: to tell many stories and convey one focused message.

In my opinion, films like "Crash" and "Babel" are hurt by the fact that they are forced to cheat the viewers in order to come to the film's end message, whereas a film like "Magnolia" or "Traffic" arrives at it through brilliant film-making and storytelling.

Luckily, this adaptation ensemble piece manages to land itself far closer to the likes of "Magnolia" or "Traffic" than "Crash" or "Babel." While I consider that a very good thing, some may not. Some may want a film that focuses on leaving a strong emotional impact more than telling its many stories as well as possible, and they may in fact be disappointed by "Winged Creatures." But if you appreciate low-key films that are effective without hitting you over the head in any way, this film is definitely a must-see.

One of the first things praise-worthy in this ensemble film is, of course, its 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. After his ridiculous over-performance in "Vantage Point," I thought that Forrest Whitaker's fabulous performance in "The Last King of Scotland" may have just been a fluke. But his portrayal of a man whose luck is all over the place after the event is spot-on. As Dakota Fanning moves towards adulthood, she handles a particularly tricky (and religion-heavy) performance with ease. Heck, even Jennifer Hudson (how the hell did she win an Oscar?) gives a performance that indicates some talent, even though her role is small.

Then you get to the direction, and all that goes with it. The film moves between its stories just as well as the higher-budget, more mainstream ensemble pieces, transitioning very well without ever killing the mood with a sudden shift. The film's score adds to this , as it keeps the same feel throughout the movie, giving the film an unchanging pace and mood, so even though you're watching a bunch of stories at once, it's one wholesome experience.

I don't know if this will get recognition come Oscar time, but frankly, it doesn't need to. This is a movie that shows talent out of a lot of actors about whom you may have been skeptical, and is a very worthy addition to the ensemble piece genre.

A serious film on trauma

[perkypops · 6/10 · 17 June 2011]

Although there are many films on serious subjects the techniques used are many and various. Here we have a script which places a group of people in a diner in peril of a gunman. By restricting our field of vision the film allows us to either imagine all that happened on trust, or allow our instinct to take us where the story teller wants us to go. There are many deft cinematic touches along the way coaxing us to understand how the many 'victims' of the opening crime scene, which is slowly revealed as the film progresses, cope with the trauma of closeness to death.

How we understand the trauma and the coping of the victims is left very much to each watching individual and for that I salute the production team. We are not encouraged to feel sympathy or empathy or pity or any other emotion. The film is as cold as the blood in the opening murder scene. And yet strangely this is not a hard film to watch perhaps because of the constant cutting between the various people involved. Yes there are moments when we may feel a little awkward but they seem accidental rather than deliberate.

The acting is excellent throughout. I would like to have given this film a high score because the actors deserve it, but it always falls short of the pivotal axiom that humans are unpredictable even when being predictable. At least it takes its subject seriously and for that it is to be admired.

And so I award it six out of ten.

Doesn't quite take flight

[Chris_Docker · 4/10 · 1 July 2009]

A popular place to die in America is sitting in a diner. I only know this because of countless movies where people go into a diner, ostensibly for a cup of coffee, but basically so they can get shot. You think I'm kidding. They don't really go into diners to get shot. They go into diners so they can be immortalised in movies when they get shot. Remembered by millions. Either way, they get shot, and hopefully something else happens to make it interesting.

Fragments follows the lives of various people after one such incident in a diner. One woman becomes obsessively promiscuous. One man is convinced he has a miraculous power of luck at the casino tables. One teenager becomes obsessed with born-again Christianity. Another stops speaking. 24/7. The life of the waitress in the diner. The man who held the door open on the way out and let the killer in. Everyone is affected in different ways. Beneath the placid exteriors there is deep sorrow needing to come out.

At least that's the story. It is, unfortunately, only mildly interesting. Both the youngsters are played by charismatic individuals. Forest Whitaker works overtime to imbue his lamentable character with something worth watching. Kate Beckinsale is easy on the eye, even playing neurotically bedraggled. The list of names goes on, and includes many actors worthy of better material than this.

We tend in the UK to give bereavement short shrift. An hour or so over cheese and ham sandwiches at the funeral – then like any trauma that goes with it – it's supposed to be over. But although the American tradition is better at giving death its due, it is also more fond of the psychoanalyst's couch. And endlessly obsessing over one's worries. And endlessly expecting us to care. 'Get over it,' is not something a sensitive person would ever think, much less say to a friend. That each of these people eventually find an exit from their vicious cycle of senseless sorrow is more down to the determination to spin it out to feature length and then cut before we wonder what would happen if they had any real problems.

I would like to be more sympathetic to such navel gazing as eulogised in Fragments. But if the characters are in any way believable, it is very, very sad that they are so. This is an ensemble performance in the psychopathology of feeling over-dramatically sorry for oneself. Of being at the mercy of circumstances. In a frankly tedious, self-indulgent, predictably downward spiral of a film.

The movie is nicely bookended, starting with scenes of an abandoned kitchen montaged with respectable surburbania. It is meant to convey a suggestion that these horrors happen to 'nice' people too. The treatment of the two iconic US derangements – guns and religion – is refreshingly non-judgemental and manages a balancing act that neither supports nor opposes. The production values are generally good and it has the advantage of being a mainstream weepie that is neither sugary nor patronising towards the audience. The drama is well-paced, and if you can tolerate the storyline there is no reason why you shouldn't effortlessly while away some time in front of it (if my hard-hearted reservations haven't put you off).

From the viewpoint of dedicated cinema-goers, violence in diners has good and bad points. On the plus side, we get a lot of great movies. Like History of Violence. Or Natural Born Killers. And more gangster films than holes in Al Capone's raincoat. But of course there's sadness too. Subjecting your loved ones to Fragments would be a prime example.

Interesting character study and gives much room for thought

[Gordon-11 · 11 April 2009]

This film is about how the lives of different individuals are affected by a shooting in a local café.

"Winged Creatures" is not for everyone as it is a tough film to watch. Though the story is held together by an initial central event, the characters' reactions and coping mechanisms make the film seem fragmented. Maybe that's why the new title of "Winged Creatures" is "Fragments"? Each of the victim's reactions give much room for thought and reflection. Out of all the reactions, I find Dakota Fanning's detached and dissociated state the most dramatic; Kate Beckinsale's reaction is the most realistic; while Guy Pearce's reaction is scarily morbid.

"Winged Creatures" could have been a thought provoking and touching drama. However, it tries to show so many different characters' reactions that it becomes fragmentary. It would have been more satisfying to just concentrate on less characters but in more detail.

I held the door open for the guy who shot everybody!

[sol-kay · 7/10 · 3 June 2012]

***SPOILERS*** After surviving a shooting at their local diner the survivors of that massacre have their lives shattered beyond repair. We get to see the movie in a number of flashbacks or fragments in exactly what happened during the shooting and how the shooting effected the lives of those who survived it as well as their loved one's and family members. We soon see that the sweet and pretty waitress at the diner single mom Carla Davenport, Kate Beckinsale, turned into a man chasing bimbo who by neglecting her six month old son whom she took along with her, in her car, to sleazy bars and pick-up joints almost ended up dying from dehydration!

Dr. Bruce Lamby, Guy Pearce, who dropped into the diner to get a cup of coffee before work at the hospital and left before the shooting started held himself responsible for the massacre in him opening the door for the killer, Marty McGuire, who moments later shot up the place! Dr. Lamby also turned out to be Clara's doctor who was attending her baby's eating problems for free, since she didn't have any medical insurance, and almost blotched it up with problems he had back at home. In with his wife Joan, Embath Davidtz, who's suffering from migraine headaches that Dr. Lamby started to slip strong medication into her food in order to cure her. This with him upping the doges almost ended up killing her instead!

There's also teenagers Anne Hagen & Jimmy Jasperson, Dakota Fanning & Josh Hutcherson, who by a stroke of luck or heroism survived the killings where Jimmy's dad Bob Jasperson, Jackie Earl Haley, ended up together with the gunman, who shot himself, getting his brains blown out! It was Jimmy who completely freaked out and became mute in what he saw in not only his dad getting shot but in the cowardly way he reacted to it! Anne for her part became very religious after the incident and forgave the dead gunman for what he did but at the same time covered up the cowardly way how Jimmy's dad reacted before he was blown away! This more then anything else made Jimmy's depression worse then it already was. And it was Anne in her finally admitting the truth of what happened that brought Jimmy out of his deep depression as well as him getting his voice back.

Finally there's the real hero in the movie the sad sack compulsive gambler and cancer ridden driving school instructor Charlie Archenault, Forrest Whitiker. It's Charlie who felt by surviving the shooting, where he was wounded, that luck was on his side! Driving down to a Las Vages casino Charlie's luck proved to be genuine with him winning on the crap tables a cool 100 G's before the evening was over.

***SPOILERS*** But in the end Charlie blew it all and had to get a marker, 25 G's, from the mob to continue in trying to get his money back only, so it seemed, to lose it all and having his right hand and arm broken for his failed efforts. We later find out that Charlie in fact did make a big score big enough to pay off his debt to the mob and have plenty left for himself! But,in him feeling guilty in surviving the massacre, he decide to willingly have his arm hand broken instead!

Great performances by all involved but it's Forrest Whitaker's kind and sensitive portrayal of born loser Charlie Archenault that really stands out. It was Charlie who was the true hero in the movie by trying to tackle the gunman and getting shot for doing it. But he prevented him from gunning down more people including Anne & Jimmy as well as Kate in his selfless and almost suicidal effort! And in the end despite doing everything he could to destroy himself, in him feeling that he's dying from cancer anyway, it was an act of faith or God that somehow miraculously prevented that from happening to him!

Fragments was pretty good.

[illybabii87 · 7/10 · 4 September 2009]

This movie wasn't as great as I expected but wasn't worse either. It's okay. I'm a big fan of Dakota Fanning and I was really into this movie. The plot was pretty good but the only thing that confused me was the scenes that had the flashbacks. But, this movie is a "see only one time" type of movie. Anyways, Fragments is okay. Dakota and Josh Hutcherson were so adorable in this movie and I loved it when they kissed. I thought that they would do more like "make-out" but whatever.

I also didn't like how the black guy in the movie was so lost and kind of out of his mind a little bit. He really bored me and was confusing. But, Fragments is a must see movie. It's a real mind thinker.

Grounded

[momsroo · 5/10 · 19 February 2010]

"Winged Creatures" wants very much to make A Statement about modern life: the interconnectedness of human beings, the devastation wrought by random shootings that have become an unfortunate cliché in American communities, and the shock waves that erupt from the epicenter of these violent acts. Fragmentation can be an effective storytelling device for this kind of drama, and "Winged Creatures" has some impressive predecessors. Despite the movie's imitative efforts, however, "Crash" it ain't.

"Creatures" follows the aftermath of an act of anonymous violence in an anonymous diner full of anonymous people in an anonymous working class neighborhood. Writer Roy Freirich and director Rowan Woods want to draw us in with Everyness of their characters: Clara, a young, single-mom waitress (Kate Beckinsdale); Charlie, a middle-aged man (Forest Whitaker) with more serious matters on his mind than trying to get Clara to do her job; Anne and Jimmy, two young friends (Dakota Fanning, Josh Hutcherson) who cower under a table when the shooting starts; Dr. Laraby, an emergency room physician (Guy Pearce) who decides to find out what it really means to play God.

All of this is familiar territory. Handled well, films of this nature engage us with recurring "A- ha!" moments and sparks of true insight into the human condition. Unfortunately, "Winged Creatures" never quite reaches those heights. The back stories are unimaginative and sometimes contradictory. Motivation for Pearce's doctor is hinted at, but never concretized, making his personal about-face downright baffling. Instead of graceful complexity, "Winged Creatures" settles for clunky symbolism that has all the depth of a coat of paint and the subtlety of a jackhammer.

I wanted—and tried—to like this movie. I enjoy films that ask me to follow a cat's-cradle maze of intertwining stories. I think that pop culture is uniquely qualified to help us forget about the banality of evil and reignite our tendency to care when bad things happen to good people. And the "Winged Creatures" cast, including Jeanne Tripplehorn, Embeth Davidtz, Jennifer Hudson, and Jackie Earle Haley in supporting roles, is talented and deserves material that showcases its diverse strengths. Despite my best efforts, however, I simply couldn't overlook the weaknesses in the script and direction. Ultimately, "Winged Creatures" never gets off the ground.

Fragments still remain.....

[celticjunkie · 7/10 · 26 August 2009]

I enjoyed the psychological drama of the film, but it did leave me with some questions, which I'll get to at the end of this comment. I thought Forest Whitaker was excellent as the cancer patient/gambling addict who has nothing to lose. Dakota Fanning was good, but her character really annoyed me. I still don't quite get the whole God thing. Kate Beckinsale actually looked sort of horrible in this film, which was 100% in character, so I suppose she was effective portraying a lonely, often haggard-looking, neglectful single mom of a colicky baby. (She should never go bottle blonde again!!) What I didn't quite understand (aside from Dakota Fanning and the God thing) was why the doctor kept on poisoning his wife and then rescuing her. Was it to play God? To be her hero? I don't get it. Also, he kept looking up the same things (drug side effects) on the internet. Why? Was his wife a guinea pig? A lab rat? Why did he want to cause her pain?? Another scene I still don't get is a very brief sex scene, mainly in shadows -- who was that? What was that? AND, the biggest question of all (and it is most likely intentionally left a mystery) is WHY did the man shoot up the diner in the first place???

Turgid twaddle a-go-go

[Miakmynov · 3/10 · 27 June 2009]

Attracted by the ensemble talent on offer, together with an interesting narrative premise, Fragments looked like a safe bet. The promising opening left the viewer in little doubt that in such a horrible situation a) there but for the grace of god go I, and b) bearing first-hand witness to an unexplained and seemingly random shooting must unleash a spectrum of traumatic reactions in any group of strangers. But - and it's a really big 'but' - I fear that only in America would such subsequent emotional lid-blowings include poisoning your wife, disappearing off on a casino binge, or developing a messiah-like and very 'adult' god complex when you're only 9 years old. Yawn. Call me a stiff-upper-lip-Brit if you like, but where did all this bullshit come from? It says more about the geographical isolation of USA than anything else.

Any redeeming features? Well the director Rowan Woods managed to weave the various narrative threads together seamlessly enough, and at least it was only just over an hour and a half long, even if it did feel like double. To my mind though, Rowan didn't manage to generate any degree of empathy for his characters, and I was left wishing the gunman had blown away a few more of the diners' customers, to save us all from such turgid twaddle.

So in summary - dear oh dear America, you really do need to get out more. And I don't just mean day-trips to Canada. Meantime, if the reader wants to see a decent film about random shootings, then can I suggest you grab a copy of Gus Van Sant's 'Elephant' off E-bay instead - it's far superior to this self-indulgent drivel. 3/10.

Absorbing, but dismal.

[michaelRokeefe · 6/10 · 11 August 2009]

Rowan Woods directs a well gathered cast in this provocative and dour drama about a deranged man disturbing the early morning tranquility in a diner by pulling a gun and letting the lead fly randomly. Those in the diner must face a way to pick up the pieces and realize that sometimes bad situations presents a new beginning. That doesn't necessarily mean changes for the best. Kate Beckinsale is a waitress that loses interest in feeding her infant son. A wounded Forest Whitaker considers himself lucky and ends up losing every cent he owns. Dakota Fanning plays a teen with a new urgent faith in the Lord's ways. A doctor (Guy Pearce)loses every bit of self confidence and begins second guessing his actions. Bad things happen to good people and survival sometimes means change forever. Have yet to figure out the meaning of the title WINGED CREATURES. Also in the cast: JeanneTripplehorn, Jackie Earl Haley, Josh Hutcheron and Embeth Davidtz.

Simply Stunning

[fabiusmaximusrullianus · 9/10 · 19 March 2009]

Wow occasionally films like this break the waves of normality in film making much like films such as Magnolia and Grand Canyon before it, and try and pull a cast together that is willing to really submerse themselves into the roles, the dialogue and the coming together of all the pieces needed to make a story like this work. And boy does this film work.

From the opening credits to the voice-over ending its compulsive, brutal, gentle and intelligent. It has an emotional intelligence in its writing that sets the bar that little bit higher. It doesn't shock you into compassion it takes you on that journey of shock, denial, desperation and the coughing stumbling stuttering realisations which grow and release from living (and surviving) life.

I wont mention any specific performances other than to say look at the cast list, pick a favourite, and you are rewarded with stunning lead worthy performances even from the much smaller parts.

You can get wary of cinema that tries too hard and cinema that does not try hard enough this hits it straight down the middle, and is testament to the skill, talent and vision of everyone that worked on this film.

Sincerely "Thank you" for making this film.

Glossier Than Normal

[Gareth_Mohen · 7/10 · 12 August 2012]

'Fragments' was enjoyable but mostly predictable. A film that demonstrates Rowan Woods will be able to direct with the best of them. But unfortunately it is a departure from the broody and rough as guts nature of his Australian hits "The Boys" and "Little Fish". It has no real grit, and the majority of confronting scenes are softened by timely cutaways.

The strength of the film is its stellar cast. But even they seem to be going through the motions.

Having fallen in love with Jeanne Tripplehorn's multi-layered polygamist role in "Big Love" it was disappointing to see her sidelined in this film to take on the token role of grieving widow. It was frustrating to have the story preoccupied with Dakota Fanning's experience of the shooting, without being able to watch more of Tripplehorn.

The most engaging performance comes from Forest Whitaker. Stumbling around drunk for most of the film, he is so broken yet easy to empathise with. But again his character verges on the predicable outcome of a gambling addict. His redemption comes, but not as we expect it. Thus also redeeming the film.

Guy Pearce is completely unhinged, but a sap of a character. Kate Beckinsale is a clichéd single mother. But both act their roles with such conviction that they are engrossing to watch for the duration.

The unfortunate thing about this film is the mysteries are not that mysterious. It could have been more entertaining if there had been more reveals like there was in "Little Fish". This said, it is an exploration of human emotion and the core cast convey this well. The human struggle to appear in control at all costs, remains the focus and is demonstrated well.

If you really want to be depressed...

[james-70-35078 · 5/10 · 9 October 2012]

I figured with an all star cast I would have enjoyed this more. I thought this was a dark movie worthy of nursing a hangover with bloody Mary's on a Tuesday morning. I don't get why Forest Whitaker gets acting roles. He cannot act his way out of a high school play. No offense, I am sure I offended those who think he is diverse. I really felt like I was going to be depressed the rest of the day and then the booze kicked in. This movie was full of sporadic clues into the story line but it was one of those that you wait until the end only because you are not sure of whether you wasted time or it was a good choice. Well, I want my 90 minutes back. The ending was just as good as the beginning. it's worth watching if you like being sad. But hey, I am no critic I just have an opinion.

Fragmented and Flawed but Still An Interesting Watch

[Chrysanthepop · 6 September 2009]

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.