Frailty

Rating:
Summary: Fraility
Review: Wrong title, but good flick. This film makes you sit back and think, Hmmm, when it's done. VERY fresh, this film is underrated.

What could have been just a weird serial killer flick, is nearly a morality play. It certainly begs some serious WHAT IF questions, no doubt. Matthew delivers a SOLID performance as does Bill Pullman. Dark, sad, disturbing film transforms into something astounding and awe inspiring. Just when you THINK you have it figured out, you don't.

I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. I was on the edge of my seat and the twists caught me off guard. I don't want to spoil anything in the film. Let's just leave it at this: it's very clever.

Rating:
Summary: Predictable but Solid
Review: This movie, about a religious zealot who believes he has a mandate from God to kill demons (demons that look like people to you and me), and the toll this lifestyle takes on his children, is entertaining but brutal. There isn't a lot of gore, but the concept of exposing children to such violence makes this movie particularly difficult for any parent to watch.

The "twist" at the end is predictable, and the movie doesn't go anywhere that one doesn't expect it to go, but nonetheless it is reasonably entertaining.

Of course, Bill Paxton's acting is top notch, and as he also directed the picture, it is edgy in some ways that I found compelling. Matthew McConaughey's accomplished skill as an actor makes him well suited to his role of narrator/player in this work.

It's probably not a movie one would watch twice, but unlike so many movies released these days, it is definitely worth seeing once.

Rating:
Summary: Wow
Review: I knew I was going to love this movie after only 15 minutes, but I had no idea how marvelous it was going to turn out. I won't give the plot away, but it is one not seen everyday in the theatre. The ending shocked me, not because I didn't expect it, but just because I couldn't conceive it being true. McConaughey and Paxton set the screen on fire in this must see film.

DVD is great, Movie is perfect.

Rating:
Summary: Transfusing fresh blood into the tired Serial Killer genre.
Review: Over the years, serial killers have become a staple of the horror genre. The concept that such intense cruelty and brutality can be committed by someone who could live right next door to you is infinitely more terrifying than any vampire, werewolf, or zombie could ever hope to be.

Still, the serial killer genre is in danger of becoming stale and overused. For every "Silence of the Lambs" there are about 10 "Jason X"s, and for every "Se7en" there are a hundred "Urban Legend"s. And between the two extremes lies a hoard of forgettable, mediocre films.

Frailty, however, is just the sort of film to breathe new life back into the genre. In his directorial debut, Bill Paxton brings us a dark, surreal crime thriller with a touch of the supernatural.

The movie begins when Fenton Meiks (Matthew McConaughey) arrives in the office of FBI agent Wesley Doyle (Powers Booth) claiming the serial killer calling himself "God's Hands" is really his younger brother, Adam. In an effort to convince Agent Doyle of his sincerity, he begins to relate the horrifying tale of his childhood.

As Fenton talks, the film flashes back to 1979, showing Fenton and Adam as young boys (played respectively by Matthew O'Leary and Jeremy Sumpter) living with their recently widowed father (Paxton), referred to only as 'Dad'. Dad is your average working-class father, working as an auto-mechanic and trying his best to raise his two sons right.

Fenton's idyllic world begins to crumble around him, however, when one night Dad claims to have been visited by an angel. He's been told that he and his sons have been made "God's Hands", and it is their duty to destroy demons. Although these demons have taken the forms of normal humans, Dad claims he and his sons will see them for what they truly are: utter monsters. Over the next week, Dad is sent a set of holy tools (an axe and a pair of gloves found in an abandoned barn), and a list of demons to destroy (a seemingly random list of normal people). Before long he's destroying demons, or as Fenton sees it, killing innocent people. Worse still, as the killings progress, Adam is being drawn further into his father's world of religious mania.

Most of the movie takes place during the '79 flashback, making O'Leary, Sumpter, and Paxton the stars of the movie. O'Leary skillfully depicts young Fenton's struggle between his love for his family and his horror over Dad's actions. Sumpter displays a similar conflict in his character, but he is torn between his brother and his father's mission. He's the innocent youngster who loves his father unconditionally, and refuses to believe he's gone insane. Paxton's performance is simply chilling. He discusses destroying demons with his sons in the same tone he might use to talk about baseball or homework. He feels only duty towards "destroying demons", but gets physically ill when he's forced to commit a real murder.

McConaughey is barely seen until the end of the movie, and spends most of the film narrating his flashback. When he is seen, he's chillingly detached and morose. You can tell he's hiding something, but you can't tell just what until it's almost staring you in the face.

For his directorial debut, Paxton does a remarkable job. He cuts deftly between the present day and '79, without making the story confusing as could easily be done. The death scenes show everything up to the moment of the killing, forcing you to cringe and imagine the gore rather than see it for yourself.

Of course it helps that he was given a fantastic script to work with by Brent Hanley. There are a number of twists throughout the film that you probably won't see coming until they're revealed. The ending makes the film all the more terrifying and shatters any preconceived beliefs you may have had, although some may find it a bit heavy-handed.

Frailty isn't just scary; it's creepy as hell. Any fan of horror and psychological thrillers should find this movie more than worth the DVD price.

Rating:
Summary: Chilling and Original!!!
Review: Frailty revolves around a serial killer called the "God's Hands Killer" and a man named Fenton Meeks ( Matthew McCoughaney) that claims to know the true identity of the killer. Fenton walks into the office of FBI agent Wesley Doyle ( Powers Boothe)and tells a story that he claims will shed some light on the case. The story goes back to Fenton's childhood, and revolves around him (Matt O Leary)and his younger brother Adam ( Jeremy Sumpter) raised by their father( Bill Paxton). One night, their father says he is visited by an angel that was sent from God. The angel says God has a mission for him. The mission is for him and his two sons to kill demons disguised as humans. Adam, loves his dad, and is eager to assist him. Fenton however, refuses to participate and sees it as murder. Throughout the whole film, the viewer must ask themselves - Is the father really doing God's work, or he is out of his mind?

Frailty is one of the best movies that I have seen in the last couple of years. The film's story unfolds briliantly because the focus keeps switching from the present conversation between Matthew McConaughey and Powers Boothe, back to the boys' childhood with their father. It is all tied together wonderfully, and culminates in one of the best endings I have ever seen. It will literally shock you. The film overall is an intelligent horror film that offers a whole new take on a serial killer. It is not your everday pointless Hollywood slasher film. It uses the characters' emotions and what they went through, to drive the story. I also love the controversial take on religion that the story offers. Bill Paxton did an amazing job in his directorial debut! The two young actors Adam ( Jeremy Sumpter) and Fenton ( Matthew O' Leary) were the main reason for the film's success. Paxton successfully manages to make them give the most convincing performance possible. Their performances make what the boys went through very convincing. Matthew McConaughey and Powers Boothe were also great.

Frailty was flawless in my eyes. The story unfolds very well, the ending was outstanding, and the performances were all great. The DVD offers an outstanding featurette that takes you into the making of the film. It was very interesting to see the process that went into making the film.

Rating:
Summary: Gothic Horror Film with Very Little Blood
Review: This movie was excellent. Thank god they focused more on suspense, story, and ambiance than blood and gore and cheesy spook effects.

I found it really creapy that a man would have a dream/vision of God telling him to kill demons. (The demons looking like everyday humans). And then making the kids help in the act. It was utterly horrific. And the twist ending...i was not expecting that!

In a world populated by Screams, I know what you did last summer (they sucked thats what they did), and jeepers Creepers...this movie is like the diamond in an abandoned titanium mine.

Enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: Chilling, thoughtful and disturbing.
Review: There is no one word to describe Bill Paxton's FRAILTY (2002), his directorial debut. All three of the above words apply to this tantalizing, amazing film--the most amazing fact is that this IS Bill Paxton's directorial debut. This movie is so well crafted with a master's artistic hand that you would swear that a suspense veteran such as Brian De Palma (CARRIE, OBSESSION), Ridley Scott (ALIEN), Barbet Schroeder (SINGLE WHITE FEMALE) or Taylor Hackford (THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE) had directed it. I personally cannot wait to review Mr. Paxton's next film; I'm sure that it will be different, but great nonetheless.

FRAILTY itself is different--a very different kind of movie. It begins by being told in a conventional manner, via the flashback technique. In fact, it sets the story up so conventionally that we fall rather easily for the direction in which Paxton takes us. This film successfully manipulates us to believe that the story is heading in one particular way. By the end, we've been duped, and duped so brilliantly that we had never seen it coming to us in the first place.

FRAILTY is regarded as a horror/suspense thriller. If this film has to be categorized, then this would probably be the most accurate label to put on it. If you're reading this far, you undoubtably know that it is about religious fanaticism and the violent acts resulting from it. You know that it concerns Bill Paxton as a Texas "Dad" (who is, interestingly enough, never named in the film, another tactic of artistic brilliance on the part of Brent Hanley, who wrote the film's screenplay) who awakens his two young sons in the middle of an otherwise ordinary night and breathlessly tells them of a "revelation from a heavenly angel" about what they "now must do" in the name of "God's work." What they "now must do" involves killing "demons in human form" by way of decaptitation via the axe.

The family last name is "Meiks" (which phonetically sounds like "meek"--I wonder if the film's title relates to that?), and the two sons, Fenton and Adam (ages 12 and 9, respectively) are now left to take this information all in. The younger one does, the older one doesn't--in fact, he believes that Dad has just flipped, as he had apparently never been much of a religious man and, besides, this plan to "rid the world of demons" sounds just plain crazy. However, the axe-slayings do begin to occur; one son goes along willingly and the other tries to resist as best as he possibly can.

You know all of the above by now. But if you think that this is all of what FRAILTY is about, then you don't even know the half of it. This brilliant film has more twists and turns that you could shake a Magnolia stick at; however, these twists/turns are handled with a maximum of subtlety and with a minimum of incredulity.

The acting performances of all of the principals are genuine, and never step wrongly even once. Bill Paxton walks an incredibly fine line of portraying a character who remains sympathetic even as he is systematically decapitating those he believes are not human beings, but demons. Matthew O'Leary does an excellent job of portraying the elder Meiks child as emotionally conflicted between the love of his father and the hatred for what it is he's doing. Jeremy Sumpter creates a perfect counter-foil as the younger, more impressionable and believing son for whom this murderous rampage either makes total sense, or he is simply following the wishes of his father. But it us Matthew McConaughey's performance that is the most memorable; it is an absolute outrage that he did not receive a nomination for Best Supporting Actor in this role, the most enigmatic of his career.

Lastly, it is the screenplay by Brent Hanley and direction by Bill Paxton that are the real stars of the film; inded, this movie should have received Oscar nominations in both categories, and for Best Picture, to boot. It is just another example of unfair bias against the horror/suspense genre; that a film of markedly greater quality than most of the overblown and overrated dramas that are usually honored becomes lost in the Hollywood shuffle of the Holiday Season. It's too bad, because most of the axemurders depicted in this film are offscreen; indeed, what is most palpable in each and every scene (and, ultimately, more horrifying) is the *psychological* horror involved in the telling of this story. It is a story that is totally believable; indeed, it is amazing to my mind that it does not even claim to have been based on a true story! It is also a story that is emotionally draining. Finally, it is a story that is so well-told that it makes you reflect on it for a good long time afterwards.

MOST RECOMMENDED

Rating:
Summary: riveting and disturbing
Review: you can call this movie anything but funny, romantic or cartoony but its horrific, emotionally dramatic and thrilling. the gods hand killer is dead and Fenton Meeks(Conaghuey, outstanding in his role) comes to confess to the lead cop(Boothe) that his brother was the gods hand killer and he tells about a story when he was a boy and his dad(Paxton, who also directed and is creepy in this movie) became obsessed with killing demons, because god picked him to see the demons in people. so Fenton's dad brings home people, touchs them, sees their sinning and then axe murders them in front of them. this movie is quite disturbing and wouldnt go down well with parents. the end is great

Rating:
Summary: Psychotic and brain frying.. UPDATED 5-04
Review: I bought this movie totally clueless of what it was about because its a Mathew McConaughey, how bad could it be. Well I will never watch another one of his movies the same again. I "LOVED" the other movies of his I had seen and could not believe what I was watching. This movie is frightening and psychotic. Until I saw this one I wanted to be every one of his co-starring women. Now I cant even watch "The Wedding Planner" because the images from this horrific movie are burned in to my brain. If you love his other movies.. how to loose a guy in 10 days, the wedding planner, the newton boys, boys on the side, contact, u571, edtv... DO NOT BUY THIS MOVIE.. it will ruin whatever crush you have on him. There are no words to truly describe how freaked out I was by this movie. I am blown away by how crazy and not in a good way this movie is.

UPDATED.. ok its been close to 6 months since I watched this movie. I have not watched this movie again and I still can't look at Mathew McConaughey the same way but I can atleast watch most of the other movies again. The Wedding Planner is still my favorate movie and U571 is the second.

Rating:
Summary: Impressive horror film
Review: "Frailty" tells the story of two boys, Fenton and Adam, who live with their father (director and actor Bill Paxton) who, one night, has a vision coming from God that guides him to a path of killing. He has to kill demons that live among humans, and that have the aspect of human beings. The two boys are forced to witness and participate to the slayings, but the oldest, Fenton, has a different opinion on all that...Seems very simple? I'm not telling you more than that, because any other detail about the plot would be too much...and let me tell you that the film is much more than that, really. There is an impressive amount of sub-plots and it truly is one of the most complicated films since Curtis Hanson's "L.A. Confidential".

Directed by Bill Paxton, known for his roles in James Cameron's "Aliens" and Sam Raimi's "A Simple Plan" among many others, this man proves that he's not only a good actor, but also a very promising director. Paxton's film is dark, hypnotic, it truly has a creepy atmosphere that reminds of Danny Boyle's "Shallow Grave". The film is structured in two different periods of time, one is the sons' youth, and the other is their adulthood, but both of them are haunting and amazingly moody and well-done.

The acting is really great too, and the boys surprised me...personally, except for Danny Lloyd in Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" and a couple of other young actors that did a good job, I didn't see god young actors very often...but these guys are very good. Bill Paxton, Matthew McConaughey and Powers Boothe all made an extremely good job acting, especially Paxton, who plays a very believable and likeable father that is tormented and deranged but still believes in what he does. His character is full of dilemmas, goodness, and a part of evil (that borrows the name of good in the film). McConaughey reminds me of Kevin Spacey's character in Brian Synger's "The Usual Suspects". You'll have to see the film to understand what I just said...really. Powers Boothe is great too, with another character that brings plot twists, even though that could be the last thing you'd expect. Great acting.

And now, a very strong element in this film, the scenario. It is really good. It takes the skeleton of an horror movie, to which rich plot twists are added in addition of interesting characters we TRULY care about. And that's a rare thing in an horror film. The dialogues are quite good, and the story, even though it may first sound pretty simple is very developped and complex. Brent Hanley (the man that wrote the film) is close to Christopher McQuarrie (the scenarist of "The Usual Suspects") and I'd even say he (kind of) has more merit because he made an HORROR film scary and truly intelligent taking a different path than Stephen King with "The Shining", which has intelligent horror based on insanity..."Frailty", somehow, took this path, but wrote a scenario that could still make sense in a Crime film or Film-Noir...and he still gave a scary flavor to his story, and Paxton enriched it with his nice directing. Hanley is the Ray Bradbury of these days, really.

Overall, those who are tired of recent horror films (the boring "Resident Evil", the ridiculous "Queen of The Damned", or the fundamentally awful "Valentine", among others) will be pleased. People who think horror movies are stupid will be stunned. People that believe horror movies contain gallons of blood will be speechless. This film is very good. Very good. It is entertaining, but not in the usual Hollywood way to be entertained...there are no special effects, no CGI, no creature effects, no gore...but that's not the point! This is an (unfortunately) unusual way to make an horror movie...this film is original, simple but at the same time very complex (you may need more than one viewing to catch it all). You'll watch five minutes of it, and you'll be hooked until the very uncommon and GREAT ending. Some scenes are disturbing for the characters, but not for the viewer, the nuance is that the viewer feels how disturbed the characters are, and we feel really close to them...that's how an horror film should work! Also, there are many discussion topics in this film, and they question many things and believe me, this film will make many think...especially about religion. "Frailty" criticizes religion, especially the way believers understand it. "Frailty" has many faces, it's a rich film, and it is very enjoyable, especially for those who love horror films. But the range of viewers is much wider than that. Haunting film. Great directing and scenario. Oh yeah, and acting too. Thanks a lot Mr.Paxton, you delivered a very good horror film.