No sooner have our happily married couple hit the road than Tom pops up out of the backseat and holds them at gunpoint. Pierce Brosnan, the former James Bond on the big-screen and Remington Steele on the small screen, has been monkeying around with his cinematic persona since the Bond producers sent him packing after "Die Another Day." He let his belly hang out in “After the Sunset,” admittedly a routine caper film, and most recently, he sang in “Mama Mia.” Between these epics, Brosnan played the villain in “Shattered” and he is convincing without going overboard as a psychotic lunatic.Īn unshaven renegade with a grudge, Tom Ryan (Pierce Brosnan) forces his way into the lives of successful Chicago advertising executive Neil Randal (Gerald Butler of “300”) and his pretty blond wife Abby (Maria Bello of “Payback”) as Neil is taking Abby off to a girls’ night out rendezvous before he leaves on a jet for a trip with his boss. Now, the married couple that saw "Shattered" took an immediate dislike to it and the surprise ending didn't leaving them gasping, and they generally didn’t like anything about it, especially Maria Bello. In fact, the second time that I watched "Shattered," I appreciated it the way some people savor good food. I’ve never had a problem watching a movie that I learn stuff about as I am watching it. The first time that I saw Mike Barker's "Shattered," I watched it with the commentary track playing because I had bought it used at a Movie Gallery sale and I wanted to have some idea about what was happening in case the DVD skipped and I had to wait any length of time before I could replace it. Again, I had a blast watching this tense, white-knuckled suspense thriller. I envy those audiences that did see it in theaters. Since I don't subscribe to the crappy cable where I lived, little did I know that it premiered on TNT. Evidently, the film did not fare well at the box office because it didn’t play in the sticks where I live, Columbus, Mississippi, and it didn’t last long in theaters. I thoroughly enjoyed “Shattered,” but my closest and dearest friends absolutely detested it from start to finish. Other movies, like the Pierce Brosnan & Gerald Butler melodrama “Shattered” (**** out of ****) pose difficulties because you cannot plunge into details without divulging crucial plot points that would ruin the film's mystery and suspense for folks who want to see it. Because sometimes, your trip ends before the in-flight movie does, and you really don’t want to ask the pilot to circle the airport just so you can catch the finale.Some movies are easy to criticize in a review, pointing out the positive and the negative while applauding or panning those involved.Because sometimes, you fall asleep watching a mediocre rental, and would rather return it on time than pay two more bucks just to see the end.Because sometimes, your TiVo timer didn’t get it quite right, and cut off the crucial final minutes of something that won’t get shown again for six months.Because sometimes, you’re not interested in seeing that movie everyone’s talking about but are dying to know what the hubbub is about anyway.Because sometimes, you vaguely remember an old movie that had some sort of plot twist at the end of it, but can’t remember what it was.Because sometimes, the surprise “spoiler” ending is the only reason you’d pay $11 to see what is otherwise a turkey of a film.
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