Butterfly on a Wheel (2007)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Mike Barker

Writer (WGA):

William Morrissey (written by)

Release Date:

23 August 2007 (Israel)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Lives will be broken

Plot:

A perfect family's dynamic is ruined by a kidnapper's brutally efficient plot.

Plot Keywords:

Nanny | Sociopath | Kidnapper | Gun | Daughter

Cast

Pierce Brosnan	...	Tom Ryan
Maria Bello	...	Abby Randall
Gerard Butler	...	Neil Randall
Emma Karwandy	...	Sophie Randall
Claudette Mink	...	Judy Ryan
Desiree Zurowski	...	Helen Schriver
Nicholas Lea	...	Jerry Crane
Peter Keleghan	...	Karl Granger
Samantha Ferris	...	Diane
Malcolm Stewart	...	Dave Carver
Callum Keith Rennie	...	Det. McGill
Dustin Milligan	...	Matt Ryan
Julie Patzwald	...	Female Teller
Jason McKinnon	...	French Waiter
Kurt Evans	...	Maitre D'

Also Known As:

Shattered (Singapore: English title) (USA) (new title)
Desperate Hours (Europe: English title)
The Butterfly (International: English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for some language and violence.

Runtime:

95 min | Germany:98 min (European Film Market)

Country:

Canada | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | South Korea:15 | Netherlands:12 | Philippines:R-13 | Taiwan:R-12 (original rating) | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-13 | Singapore:PG | UK:15 | Australia:MA | Germany:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Portugal:M/16

Filming Locations:

BC Place, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Butterfly Productions

Trivia:

When Neil opens the poetry volume, you can see the lines 304 to 310 of Alexander Pope's "Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot": But all such babbling blockheads in his stead Let Sporus tremble - A. "What? that thing of silk, Sporus, that mere white curd of ass's milk? Satire or sense, alas! can Sporus feel? Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?" P. Yet let me flap this bug with gilded wings, This painted child of dirt that stinks and stings, On top of the page there is merely a title "Satires", because the 'Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot' is also known as 'Prologue to the Satires'. Notice that in the final scene, Abby seems to continue Pope's rhyme by saying: Who breaks a butterfly on a wheel? I do, Neil ...

Goofs:

Continuity: When Neil runs to the clock tower he's all sweaty - his shirt is all wet, then in the elevator he's neat and clean, then on the roof he's wet again.

Movie Connections:

Features "Ed, Edd, 'n' Eddy" (1999)

Soundtrack:

I'll Take Care of You

Manipulative & mean-spirited

About 20 minutes into this flick, I nervously thought to myself, "Man, I sure hope this isn't gonna turn into an over-the-top manipulative piece of bad film-making." Because it became clear at that point it could go either way, and being a fan of Pierce Brosnan, I was hoping it would rise above my fears.

But it didn't. It just got worse and worse... and worse, and finally resolved itself with exactly the manipulative end-game that I'd feared.

The plotting is mostly crude artifice (as opposed to the carefully crafted artifice of a fine movie). The acting is overdone, but only because they stayed with the overblown script. I'm curious how or why an experienced actor like Brosnan didn't see that before filming even started.

Apparently, this film was never released into cinemas. That's no hard to understand. It is, really, a hateful mean-spirited film, with no redeeming virtues. I do not recommend it to anyone.