Butterfly on a Wheel

When their happy lifestyle is suddenly interrupted and turned upside down by the forceful intrusion of a menacing kidnapper (Brosnan), Abby and Neil (Bello and Butler) are left with no choice but to follow the increasingly difficult demands and tests set them by this man. It's edge-of-the-seat stuff most of the way, with plenty of twists and turns and even when you get to that stage where you think you know all the answers, something else catches you off guard. The three leading actors all provide sound performances in this intelligent, edgy little thriller, with Brosnan proving yet again, because a lot of people seem not to have realised it before, that he really can act.

Abby (Maria Bello) and Neil Randall (Gerard Butler) seems to be the perfect couple in Chicago with a lovely daughter. He's climbing the corporate ladder. Neil is going to spend the weekend with his boss. Abby is going to see her sister Diane. They hire Helen Schriver from the agency to babysit Sophie for the night. On the drive to Diane, mysterious Tom Ryan (Pierce Brosnan) comes out of the backseat with a gun and news that Helen has already kidnapped their child. He starts telling them what to do like withdrawing all their cash but he throws it all into the river. He tells them to do what they're told for 24 hours and they'll have their girl back.

There is a lot of unnecessary breathlessness and yelling overacting. It's all intended to raise the tension, but it's too much of a movie thing. Gerard Butler is pushing too hard. His energy diffuses the tension rather than raise it. Quiet anger would be so much more effective. Pierce Brosnan and Maria Bello are a little better. He does menace well and she's the loving wife. This has the potential for a good 3-person morality play, but director Mike Barker works overtime to pump up the artificial thrills. I was interested in the mystery of the true nature of the story, but I didn't particularly care about the people. The twist ending is fine but it needed a few more breadcrumbs laid out along the way. More hints about the ending would have made the ending more compelling.

Every now and then: the huge Hollywood-engine creates a small and simple film that turns out to be far superior than any gigantic blockbuster made that year. "Butterfly on a wheel" is such a film. It doesn't feature amazing explosions or overwhelming car chases or anything of that kind. It has marvelous actors playing colorful characters in a gripping storyline. These are only the very basic elements but this film uses them wisely. Unlike most thrillers however, this one doesn't take an awful lot of time to set the mood but moves at a high pace.

The split-second where this movie instantly changes from a soft-drama to a razor-sharp thriller is absolutely gorgeous ... it's a real shocker! And from that moment forth we have ourselves a nail-biting ride which'll keep you firmly on the edge of your seat until the very end. On top of that: this movie's great twist ending beautifully blurs the line between good and evil.

Pierce Brosnan has already proved to be much more than 007 and continues to do so here. Maria Bello became famous as the sexy waitress/dancer in "Coyote ugly" but over the years she became a fine actress. And Gerard Butler has fought side by side with Lara Croft and 300 of the bravest Greeks, but now this Scottish actor takes a break from this senseless violence and plays a more fragile role.

In short: "Butterfly on a wheel" is an intelligent cat-and-mouse-game that steadily becomes a first-rate thriller.

I'd never heard of this movie until it showed up on DVD sites a couple of weeks ago. Then I read the comments here and thought, "Pass." But there was not much to choose from the other night, and the suspense/mystery/thriller genre is my favotire these days, so ... I picked it up. Glad I did because my wife and I enjoyed the movie. Certainly not a GREAT film, but very good. I liked the story, the film was nice and short, good characters. And we loved the ending and the twists. They were very clever. Overall, a solid suspense drama. Too bad this film didn't get released. Saw 4, on the other hand, goes wide and makes a ton.

Butterfly on a Wheel (AKA: Shattered) is directed by Mike Barker and written by William Morrissey. It stars Pierce Brosnan, Maria Bello and Gerard Butler. Music is by Robert Duncan and cinematography by Ashley Rowe.

Butler and Bello play a seemingly happily married couple who have an adorable young daughter into the fold. Enter a rather sinister Brosnan who announces he has kidnapped the daughter and requires the couple to do everything he asks. Pressure is on then!?

Basically this is just real solid kidnap thriller film making, the kind that we were well served with back in the 1980s, and with that in mind this comes off like a throw back to that decade. Brosnan (how nice to see him doing a natural Irish brogue) grows ever more spiteful, while of course our handsome couple get more frantic.

But naturally there's a mystery going on here, we are left in no doubt about that there is something lurking beyond the edges of the frames. To which the inevitable twist, on which the whole pic's very being depends upon, will either make or break how you ultimately feel about the piece as a whole.

I liked it. 7/10