Top Box Office Movies

Frailty (2002) Lions Gate Films
1 hr. 40 mins.
Starring: Bill Paxton, Matthew McConaughey, and Powers Boothe.
Directed by: Bill Paxton

Frailty

Rating:

E-MAIL GINO PAGLIUCA

Photo: Lions Gate Films

I honestly didn’t think this movie would surprise or shock me in any way, after all it is Bill Paxton’s first directorial effort, and it’s a thriller no less!! The most I expected out of this was an interesting story and perhaps some nice camera work, but I can honestly say that Mr. Paxton has done his homework. He must have been taking notes while working with Sam Raimi (director of Paxton’s disturbing “Simple Plan” and the Evil Dead series), because this film really got under my skin.

Visually it does borrow from Raimi’s films, but add to that a narrative that plays to the tune of “Usual Suspects” and you have yourself a close idea of what we got going here. This film is suspenseful, intriguing, and when you least expect it, jump out of your seat surprising. The film begins with Matthew McConaughey in a sheriff’s office a town away from his own. He is there to submit important information that may lead to the capture of the “God’s Hands killer”, a wanted fugitive for the last 20 years. The story he tells is of his upbringing, which we see in long flash backs of him and his brother as children being raised by their single father (Paxton). One night Paxton wakes the boys up in the middle of the night to explain to them that God came to visit him in his sleep and gave him a mission to kill demons, which in actuality walk among us as humans.

Safe to say this story is not you’re A-Z thriller. It did not make me jump out of my seat with loud, sudden sounds, or throw cheap and cheesy effects my way to try and scare. What it does is take it’s time, and much like the skeptical Fenton child in the story, I had enough time to second guess myself and forget that something scary might possibly happen. After all what I was watching for most of this film is a loving father spending time with his children, enough for me to let my guard down.

Pacing in this movie was key. At first I found the shifting narrative to be quite tedious, as though it didn’t really serve the story, but I now realize that this fit perfectly into what is the bigger picture, the surprising ending, and well placed climax. I understood why the story was told the way it was, and I can’t imagine it any other way. Paxton deserves a great deal of praise for what is a near perfect film. Beautiful cinematography, lighting, sound, pacing, exquisite acting all around, especially by the young children. The details in this film were beyond impressive. 1979 was brought back to life, and though I have no recollection of that period (the year I was born) I did not doubt for a second that what I was seeing was from that period. Each shot was filled with little details, from the food, to appliances, to cars, backgrounds, to scribbles on papers, and all of it seemingly placed together.

I have no doubt in my mind that this film was a labor of love for Paxton, and he certainly has created something he can be proud of. Absolutely one of the best films I have seen. Sincerely. It took me where I didn’t care to go and when it was over it left me wanting more. A film that can achieve that is one definitely worth praising.

Note: A gang of 6 “loud-annoying-hate to sit in front of at the movies” guys sat behind my friends and I while we watched this film, and cracked jokes through most of the movie. All I can say is that I was incredibly impressed that a key scene in the film shut them up for the rest of the movie.

Click here to comment on this review or post your own thoughts.

Gino Pagliuca
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