Butterfly on a Wheel, test screening review

Butterfly on a Wheel, test screening review


New Pierce Brosnan thriller, in which he plays an Irish kidnapper who terrorizes a young, happily married couple in Chicago, tearing their lives apart, throwing away all their money, threatening their young daughter, tormenting them psychologically.

Brosnan's performance is very uneven. His Irish accent is awful and inexplicable. There is a get-out clause, however, which excuses his apparent bad acting through the twist at the end. Also starring Maria Bello as the wife, and Gerard Butler as the husband.

The pace of the movie is relentless. There is a terrifying scene on top of a clock tower with vertigo-enducing views which really tightened my stomach. The ending is unexpected and redeems some of the earlier flaws in the plot, although it remains a bit implausible. At times it appears sluggishly clichéd, but it's actually doing something quite clever with the generic conventions. (Can't say more, otherwise it would spoil it.) Nevertheless leaves you feeling a bit cheated, as with most dramatic twists.

Nugget: nothing particularly stunning but quite an enjoyable romp that certainly keeps up the tension.

Note: I saw this at the first test screening at the Charlotte Street Hotel in London. It was a late director's cut and so still had green screen, temporary musical score and poorer quality sound and print.

http://domeheid.blogspot.com/2006/08/butterfly-on-wheel-2007-icklereview.html