Winged Creatures (2009)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Good movie but grossly overrated

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

What is the effect on a small US town when an ordinary-looking guy goes into a diner and shoots several people at random before doing himself in? Maybe this is not an issue that's much occupied your mind?Or maybe you don't want to know at all?In Rowan Woods's "Winged Creatures" a rather close look at such events - also set in a wider context - is taken, and it's giving the impression of being thoughtful and clever to the point where we watchers out here feel we're on tenterhooks waiting for some really big truth about these situations to come out. In a way, there is a truth at the end of the effort we put in, but it's not really a big one...On the way to that conclusion we get performances as good as we might expect from Forest Whitaker, Kate Beckinsale, Dakota Fanning and others.Ultimately, this film is well-done, and most especially so when it touches upon the random nature of this kind of thing. For some not-entirely-clear reason, it also features a relatively tangential (and somewhat unpleasant) Guy Pearce-Embeth Davidtz storyline (the latter playing a Brit for no very obvious reason), and - also for some reason - the film seems to slightly downplay the seriousness of what is going on there. This is a little bit of an enigma, but does certainly add yet another psychological dimension.While Whitaker's character annoys to the point where sympathy for his (genuine) plight is a bit muted, youthful actors Fanning and Josh Hutcherson do a particularly good job.Why would you watch this? Because very sadly such things do happen, and it leads to more of a disintegration in the community than one may even imagine (and one certainly can imagine a bit of it). But the effects are diverse and outward spreading like ripples in a pond, and probably we owe it those affected by such events in real life, and to ourselves, to think on what that means at least a little.For 100 minutes anyway,

One of those crazed and deliberate gunmen we hear so much about lately enters a coffee shop in a Los Angeles suburb and begins plugging people one by one, including himself. This causes a couple of deaths and multiple psychological problems for the five survivors -- Kate Bekinsale as the waitress; Forest Whitaker as the self-destructive cancer patient; school girl Dakota Fanning and her friend Josh Hutcherson; and the doctor Guy Pearce. Each handles the post-traumatic stress in his or her own way.It's all unremittingly depressing. Bekinsale seems to somehow contaminate her infant and he wails all the time, disrupting her life. Whitaker heads for the nearest casino and recklessly bets until he wins something like one hundred large before losing it all, having to borrow from the mob to continue his spree, and then being battered when he can't pay it back on time. Fanning turns into a religion freak who carries around in her head a faulty recollection of her father's bravery in the café. Hutcherson, who has a lesser role, becomes mute. Pearce, who was leaving the café as the killer entered and actually held the door open for him, mixes some kind of potient for his migraine-ridden wife that almost kills her.None of the performances can be faulted. They're all professional and some, like Fanning's, Pearce's, and Whitakers, are rather better than that.But good performances don't relieve the gloom, and the ending is improbable, to understate the fact. For instance, I don't know how Whitaker manages to pull a check for one hundred thousand dollars out of his sock at the end, when we'd been led to believe he'd lost it all and quite a bit more. And it's difficult to imagine how elective mutism is going to clear up if the patient hears someone else talk about the precipitating event. And I don't know what Pearce did to his wife's soup -- or why he did it. Yet it all ends happily, so to speak, with a brief philosophical obiter dictum by Fanning that sounds fine, what with "pieces falling into place," but explains nothing.Post-traumatic stress is a serious condition and it deserves the serious treatment it gets here. It's too often dismissed as some perverted form of self pity, but it was genuine enough to ruin Audie Murphy's life -- that's Audie Murphy, kids, the most decorated soldier of World War II (and movie actor) whom no one would accuse of feeling sorry for himself. And I've interviewed Vietnam veterans in the VA hospital in Palo Alto who were near suicide because of survivor's guilt.In any case, I'd applaud this film because, in spite of its weaknesses, it was made for adult viewing and there's virtually no sex and no brains being blown out. I would imagine that for many of today's viewers, that presents something of a challenge. If you want to see a similar movie, but a better one, with no clapped-together simple ending, see if you can get a copy of the Canadian feature, "The Sweet Hereafter."

Sometime in the 90's a whole genre of movies got started, where lives intertwine at random, or through some apparent greater purpose. Most such films have struck me as contrived (e.g. "Magnolia") but "Fragments" really pulled off the concept.The level of tension was high throughout and there was literally never a dull moment, which for me marks a great film. The uneasiness and queasiness it generated was at times tough to handle.It puzzled me why they would have alternately titled it "Winged Creatures," then I looked up the book, saw the cover and recognized an angle that was hinted at but never explained in the film.It also wasn't fully clear what the doctor's agenda was, or the final stakes of the gambler. Maybe the vague parts were intentional, but I suspect the book covers a lot more detail.Either way, I don't understand the negative reviews from some people, since this film was far from dull in its own right. Just checking out Kate Beckinsale is enough of a reason to watch this.

"Winged Creatures" wants very much to make A Statement about modern life: the interconnectedness of human beings, the devastation wrought by random shootings that have become an unfortunate cliché in American communities, and the shock waves that erupt from the epicenter of these violent acts. Fragmentation can be an effective storytelling device for this kind of drama, and "Winged Creatures" has some impressive predecessors. Despite the movie's imitative efforts, however, "Crash" it ain't."Creatures" follows the aftermath of an act of anonymous violence in an anonymous diner full of anonymous people in an anonymous working class neighborhood. Writer Roy Freirich and director Rowan Woods want to draw us in with Everyness of their characters: Clara, a young, single-mom waitress (Kate Beckinsdale); Charlie, a middle-aged man (Forest Whitaker) with more serious matters on his mind than trying to get Clara to do her job; Anne and Jimmy, two young friends (Dakota Fanning, Josh Hutcherson) who cower under a table when the shooting starts; Dr. Laraby, an emergency room physician (Guy Pearce) who decides to find out what it really means to play God. All of this is familiar territory. Handled well, films of this nature engage us with recurring "A- ha!" moments and sparks of true insight into the human condition. Unfortunately, "Winged Creatures" never quite reaches those heights. The back stories are unimaginative and sometimes contradictory. Motivation for Pearce's doctor is hinted at, but never concretized, making his personal about-face downright baffling. Instead of graceful complexity, "Winged Creatures" settles for clunky symbolism that has all the depth of a coat of paint and the subtlety of a jackhammer.I wanted—and tried—to like this movie. I enjoy films that ask me to follow a cat's-cradle maze of intertwining stories. I think that pop culture is uniquely qualified to help us forget about the banality of evil and reignite our tendency to care when bad things happen to good people. And the "Winged Creatures" cast, including Jeanne Tripplehorn, Embeth Davidtz, Jennifer Hudson, and Jackie Earle Haley in supporting roles, is talented and deserves material that showcases its diverse strengths. Despite my best efforts, however, I simply couldn't overlook the weaknesses in the script and direction. Ultimately, "Winged Creatures" never gets off the ground.