Fragments Review
Fragments, while it does have fleeting glimmers of hope, is a film that never realizes its full potential. The marketing for the film suggests that it bears some similarity to Paul Haggis’ Academy Award winning film Crash. The similarities are merely superficial. An ensemble cast united by a tragic event is about as close as the two films get. Fragments, while making a few inlays into the festival circuit, never found theatrical release and is only available on DVD. The film is also listed under two titles: Winged Creatures (which is the name of the Roy Freirich novel on which the film is based) and Fragments.
I’d keep this one off your queue
Fragments tells the story of various characters who find themselves in a small town diner as a tragic and random event transpires. A lone gunman, for no specified reason, murders patrons before turning the gun on himself. Dakota Fanning plays the daughter of one of the victims. Forest Whitaker plays a man, recently diagnosed with what appears to be prostate cancer, who barely survives the attack after suffering a non-fatal gunshot wound. Kate Beckinsale is a waitress at the diner and a new mother who has an unhealthy obsession with Guy Pearce’s emergency room doctor. Rounding out the cast is Jennifer Hudson as Whitaker’s down and out daughter and Jackie Earle Haley as the father of a witness to the attack. The film attempts to trace the lives of each character after the event. Neglect, fear, religion and silence are all ways in which the characters deal with the post-attack mental trauma.
Fragments’ woes begin, surprisingly, with its cast. A number of the actors have been nominated for or won Academy Awards yet, in this film; they seem to merely be going through the motions. I was surprised by Forest Whitaker’s flat performance and how irritating and difficult to watch the usually dependable Dakota Fanning becomes throughout the course of the film. There are two exceptions to this mediocrity. The first is Jackie Earle Haley who, might I add, has become one of my favorite actors working today. The 4 or 5 scenes he turns up in are the films best, not just because he seems to be getting into his role, but also because he is acting alongside Josh Hutcherson (Journey to the Center of the Earth and Bridge to Terabithia). Hutcherson plays Jimmy, a young witness to the attack who, rather than talking to a psychiatrist, decides to become mute. The young actor shines in his scenes, even though he has almost no dialogue, alongside Dakota Fanning and Earle Haley. This kid is an actor to certainly keep an eye on, as his stock will hopefully rise with this performance.
Rowan Woods’ directing couldn’t be more textbook. Woods, who made a name for himself directing numerous episodes of Farscape, doesn’t have much experience with feature films. Many shots meant to evoke emotion, including those shots of the empty diner towards the film’s end, simply don’t deliver. Watching the film, I could point out the moments meant to trigger viewer’s emotion, yet I was never drawn in to the story enough to feel anything. The flashback device is done the way you’ve seen it done countless times before in cinema. I question when a director will come along to freshen up this trite and overused cinematic device. The biggest fault I found with Fragments is that the actors other than Dakota Fanning, Kate Beckinsale and Guy Pearce have very few scenes in which to deliver standout performances. In Crash, even those actors without much screen time (Brendan Fraser, William Fichtner and even Tony Danza!) all made the absolute most of their scenes. In Fragments, this is absolutely not the case. Jennifer Hudson and Jeanne Tripplehorn are just two of the supporting actors and actresses whose ability seems wasted. Instead of making the most of their scenes, they overact and their performances fall by the wayside.
Fragments, with a more experienced director and a more motivated cast, could have shown some promise. The premise of the story is interesting and not all of the acting is mediocre or poor. Judging by the fact that I often questioned character motivation and glaring weak spots in the overall plot of the film, I think it’s safe to say that the script needed a bit of an overhaul. Going in to the film, given all the acting talent in the cast, I expected a much different result. Perhaps the biggest letdown is Dakota Fanning. Fanning, in my opinion, is a very talented actress whose ability will really be put to the test with the upcoming 2010 music biopic, The Runaways. In Fragments, Fanning seems, at certain points, like she is just going through the motions and then, on the other extreme, at certain points she seems to be overacting badly.
If you go to the video store late on a Friday night and everything is checked out, I suppose Fragments isn’t the worst choice you can make. However, try not to let your Friday night crumble to that point. If you are using Netflix or Blockbuster Online, I’d keep this one off your queue.
