Le chantage

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.

A happy marriage formed by Neil Randall (Gerard Butler), executive of an advertisement agency and his spouse, Abby (Maria Bello) have the perfect existence and an early life in Chicago. With their lively young daughter, named Sophie, they are living the American dream . When the daughter is suddenly kidnapped, they have no choice but to execute with the kidnapper's demands who appears with a gun on the backseat of their car. The abductor named Ryan (Pierce Brosnan), a calculating and cold psychopath, takes over their lives with the cruel efficiency of someone who has nothing to lose. Over the next twenty-four hours they are at the mercy of a criminal who wants only one thing, that they do his orders. It soon becomes clear that Tom's demands are all the more horrifying because he doesn't wish their money that is burnt.

This exciting picture is packed with suspense, thrills, mystery,tension and extraordinary plot twists.Tense and stirring film with a moving race against time. This Hichcockian movie deals about a successful executive and wife when their daughter is taken hostage and suffer a brutal blackmail. Gripping, original action movie with the main actors desperately trying to find out the means avoid his daughter to be murdered. Excellent thriller full of intrigue and tense, this is a fast-paced, stylized action-suspense film. The tension of this picture keeps snowballing as the clock ticks ever close for killing the daughter. The tale appear to unfold in real time and most unusual is the device of having the victim play desperado and hunt the killers, and saving his daughter , as time runs out. Casting is frankly magnificent, Gerard Butler as tormented father, Maria Bello as affected mummy and Pierce Brosnan, also producer, takes honors as a sociopath who attempts to turn the tables on the victim before he can free his daughter. Adequate musical score accompanying the action by Robert Duncan and inventively photographed by Ashley Rowe. The motion picture is stunningly directed by Mike Binder. He's a nice director working usually for television as ¨Moby Dick¨, ¨Sea wolf¨ ,¨Lorna Doone¨ and occasionally for cinema as ¨A good woman¨, ¨To kill a king¨ and of course ¨Butterfly on a wheel¨ his best movie. Rating : Good film, above average and worthwhile watching .

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.

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

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.