Frailty

Theatrical Release Date: 2002 04 12 (USA)

UPC: 031398115113

Studio: Lionsgate

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Violence, Not For Children, Adult Language, Children in Peril]

Summary: Actor Bill Paxton made his directorial debut with Frailty. The bulk of the story is told through flashbacks, as a mysterious man (Matthew McConaughey) tells a terrible tale to an FBI agent (Powers Boothe) investigating the "God's Hand" serial killer case. The man grew up in a small town in Texas, where he and his brother lived a bucolic life with their kindhearted widower father (Paxton). One night, the father awakens the two boys, Fenton (Matthew O'Leary) and Adam (Jeremy Sumpter), and tells them he's had a vision, and God has chosen him and his sons to help Him slay demons who walk the earth in human form. He tells the boys they can never tell anyone about this task. Before long, he comes home from work with a list of names that he claims an angel has given to him. He then begins abducting people, bringing them home, one by one, and having the boys watch while he lays his hands on them. After having proven, to his mind, that they are demons and not human, he chops them up with an axe while the boys look on. Young Adam is eager to participate, seeing his family as "kind of like superheroes," while the older Fenton is distraught, believing that his father has lost his mind. He contemplates running away, but is reluctant to leave his little brother behind. Eventually, he goes to the authorities, which results in disaster. As he tells the story, McConaughey takes Boothe out to the public rose garden near his old home, where he claims his brother, the "God's Hand" killer, buried the bodies. Paxton dramatizes the mayhem while leaving almost all of the gore offscreen, and Brent Hanley's script leaves the true motives of several characters unclear until the very end. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

Category: Thriller

Awards: Special Mention for Excellence in Filmmaking – National Board of Review

Features: Audio Commentaries with Director Bill Paxton and Writer Brent Hanley

Production Commentary with Arnold Glassman, David Kirschner and Brian Tyler

"Anatomy of a Scene" Featurette Courtesy of Sundance Channel
"The Making of Frailty" Featurette
Deleted Scenes with Optional Director Commentary
Storyboards
Photo Gallery

Frailty

Format: Blu-ray

Release Date: 11/24/2009

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Alternate Wide Screen

Audio: DHMA null

Runtime: 100 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French

Subtitles: English,Spanish

Josh Ralske

Directors Sam Raimi and James Cameron and author Stephen King have praised Bill Paxton's directorial debut, Frailty, as an original and genuinely frightening film, but while the film has an intriguing premise, it doesn't quite fulfill its promise. Frailty builds fairly well, and then seemingly doesn't know where to go. At the end, there are the requisite twists you won't see coming, of the type that have plagued thrillers since The Sixth Sense. Paxton, star of such great films as Aliens (directed by Cameron) and A Simple Plan (directed by Raimi), overplays his redneck zealotry a bit. He's surprisingly the weak link in a competent cast. Matthew McConaughey strikes just the right haunted note, and the two child actors, Matt O'Leary and Jeremy Sumpter, faced with extremely challenging (if not downright impossible) roles, acquit themselves admirably. Paxton does a more impressive job behind the camera, as he and veteran director of photography Bill Butler (DP on The Conversation, Jaws, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) give the film a classic look. Novice screenwriter Brent Hanley has cited Night of the Hunter as an inspiration, and while Frailty doesn't approach that film's power, for a good portion of its running time, it chillingly examines the conflicts of a child whose father has apparently slipped into madness. Paxton accomplishes this without resorting to gore or cheap scares, but the film's achievements are severely undercut by its unconvincing resolution. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Greg Serano  Actor 
Gwen McGee  Actor 
Levi Kreis  Actor 
John Paxton  Actor 
Edmond Scott Ratliff  Actor 
Chelsea Blain Butler  Actor 
Edgar Davis  Actor 
Blake King  Actor 
Betty Gurule  Actor 
Jim Flowers  Actor 
Lance E. Nichols  Actor 
Rebecca Tilney  Actor 
Jennifer Drake  Actor 
Brad Berryhill  Actor 
Richard A. Bell  Actor 
Bill Paxton  Director 
David Blocker  Producer 
David Kirschner  Producer 
Michael Paseornek  Executive Producer 
Tom Huckabee  Executive Producer 
Corey Sienega  Producer 
Karen Loop  Executive Producer 
Brian Tyler  Composer (Music Score) 
Brent Hanley  Screenwriter 
Tom Ortenberg  Executive Producer 
Bill Paxton  Actor 
Matthew McConaughey  Actor 
Powers Boothe  Actor 
Matt O'Leary  Actor 
Jeremy Sumpter  Actor 
Luke Askew  Actor 
Derk Cheetwood  Actor 
Missy Crider  Actor 
Cynthia Ettinger  Actor 
Alan Davidson  Actor 
Vincent Chase  Actor 

Country: USA