Review of Frailty (2012) by Stacey S — 22 Mar 2009

Bill Paxton normally bores me. He plays a good asshole (True Lies, Last Supper) but otherwise doesn't strike me as a capable actor. Neither does Matthew McConaughey for that matter. Yet I'm left actually appreciating them after this film. Actors often blame the lack of material for their poor performances and that's usually a crap excuse (Katherine Heigl, I'm looking at you) but in their cases it might be a sad reality of typecasting and shitty rom-coms.

Frailty is a classic story of two young brothers growing up with their homicidal father (Paxton) who has been visited by an angel and sent on the task of killing demons who, to the young bothers, look suspiciously like hapless strangers.

Adam and his brother Fenton (McConaughey) eventually end up in the care of the state, become separated, and have their lives take different paths. One becomes a serial killer, like father like son, leaving the other to make the tough decision to report his brother to the FBI. A feel good family movie all around that is both more and less dark than you'd think.