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by Jim Pappas Published: April 13, 2002
"Frailty" is a disturbing, thoughtful and original horror/psychological drama with supernatural overtones. It looks unflinchingly at what happens to a family when the head of the household becomes apparently insane. This is Bill Paxton's first feature Director's credit, and he does an excellent job of building the suspense slowly and carefully while never straying from the overall tone created in the opening moments. He also borrows liberally from Alfred Hitchcock, a wise choice with this film. Set in East Texas (West Covina, Sylmar, Sun Valley and parts of LA, CA stand in for location), the story begins with Agent Wesley Doyle (Boothe) of the FBI arriving at his office late at night to meet with a man (Meiks, played by McConaughey) who claims to know the identity of a serial killer called "The God's Hand" killer. At first appearing skeptical, Doyle asks him immediately for the name of the murderer. Meiks surprises us and agent Doyle by saying it is his brother, who had apparently just killed himself. It turns out that Meiks had taken an ambulance containing the body from a small town and had driven it to the FBI office in Dallas. Meiks convinces agent Doyle that he knows the location of bodies the FBI had been unable to locate and has Doyle drive him to a rose garden set in the small town where Meiks had grown up. On the way, the story is revealed in a series of long flashbacks. Young Meiks, his brother and father live in loving tranquility in a house that had been built originally for use by the gardener for the town's rose garden. The home stands behind the garden that is just off of the town square, and the Meiks brothers use it as a shortcut to reach their home while returning from school each day. The rose garden is also the scene of the climactic and surprising moments that occur at the end of the movie. One night, the father awakens his sons and tells them he had a prophetic vision from an Angel, and that God had chosen him and his sons to act as "God's Hands" to rid the world of demons that walked among them disguised as everyday people. Dad tells his sons that the end of the world is coming, and that they were chosen for this task in order to help God fight these demons on earth. The younger brother, Adam, buys into this with a child's sense of trust, while the older Fenton is skeptical and is torn between his love for his father and a sense of duty to society. One night Fenton is awakened and sees his father bringing a body slung over his shoulder into the tool shed behind the house. He goes to investigate and discovers his father has brought home a young woman. Adam joins his dad and brother in the shed, and the two siblings witness their father murder the young woman with an axe. This is the first in a series of murders committed by Dad, with help from his sons. The movie wisely avoids using graphic visual depictions of gore, and the killings are left to our imagination. There are many questions raised by this film. Among them are what would one do when the object of their trust and love becomes apparently insane and deadly dangerous, but still treats them with love and trust. (Also, there is a parallel here with a current real-life case involving a mass murder who claims he believed he was killing Nazis on his killing spree.) While this movie is set in the present, with the flashback scenes occurring in 1979, it seems as though we are in an earlier age (the '50's) and that is the writer's and Paxton's homage to Hitchcock. The two child actors are outstanding in their roles, and McConaughey, Boothe and Paxton are all solid as well. The look and feel of the film are pure Hitchcock, and the story is superbly written by Brent Hanley. The cinematography is excellent and the music is used sparingly and appropriately. Where other movies will use music to try and relay a sense of horror or suspense, this film's most horrific and suspenseful moments occur without musical background, a welcome and original touch. Although a good actor, Bill Paxton might have found his true calling as a director. He does a very good job here, and demonstrates he may have the ability to become a great director. I will be interested in seeing what he does with his next offering. I recommend seeing this film, and I rate it an apple Rating System: Cherry: MUST see, a classic Apple: Good film, see it upon release, or at least as a rental Banana: Ok, rent it if bored. Prune: Not a good movie, see if truly despondent with nothing better to do Raspberry: Well, you know. |
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