Movie Review: Butterfly On A Wheel (2007)

Also Known As: Shattered  

Genre: Crime Thriller  

Director: Mike Barker  

Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Maria Bello, Gerard Butler  

Running Time: 91 minutes  

Synopsis: In Chicago, successful marketing executive Neil Randall (Gerard Butler) is on the fast track to career success and living the good life with his wife Abby (Maria Bello) and young daughter Sophie. Suddenly their life is upturned by a mysterious abductor (Pierce Brosnan) who holds Neil and Abby at gunpoint and threatens to harm Sophie unless they complete specific tasks. Neil and Abby frantically try to meet their abductor's demands while trying to understand his motivations and summon help.

What Works Well: Director Mike Barker quickly cranks up the tension and maintains an elevated level of thrills, close-calls, and frantic decisions-under-pressure. The three lead cast members add plenty of quality star power, and the action is supplemented by no shortage of cerebral dueling, the antagonist and victimized couple locked into a game of mental upmanship. The final act features a couple of juicy, if highly unlikely, twists.

What Does Not Work As Well: The plot holds on to its secrets too tightly and for too long. The abductor's identity and cause are stubbornly opaque, confining most of the obstacle course episodes (take item A to location B or else the child dies) into samey treatment with no context. 

Key Quote:

Never pick a fight with someone who's got nothing to lose.



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