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When Brosnan is supposedly roughing up Butler in one scene, it's patently ridiculous looking it's obvious Butler could dust him off with one half-hearted blow. Too shallow, too superficial, and still too interested in how he looks on the screen (Brosnan's effort to look 'tough' by wearing the neatest trimmed facial scruff you've ever seen, while his hair stays immaculate, is hysterical), Brosnan can't even match the burly, thuggish Gerard Butler in the action scenes. 'Tom Ryan' never felt real to me, nor did he come off as suitably menacing or dangerous - which is absolutely critical for the film to work. We're watching Brosnan play-acting at a character. Shattered was one of Brosnan's post-Bond attempts to vary his screen image, but, as always with this actor, one never feels we're watching a true character on the screen.

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Anyone who's read my book on spy films (all twelve of you) knows that I'm no fan of Brosnan's acting, and while I found him agreeably narcissistic and vain during his fluffy Remington Steele days (he's a perfect TV actor), when any kind of dramatic weight is needed in a film, he's woefully overmatched. The main problem with Shattered, aside from obvious clues throughout the film pointing to the non-surprise 'surprise' twist ending, is, what else, Pierce Brosnan. Why is he out to ruin the Randalls, in such a particularly brutal and sadistic, humiliating fashion?

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In other words, Tom is setting out to systematically destroy the Randall's personal and professional life - with absolutely no motivation.

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What follows is an increasingly devastating series of tasks that Ryan makes the couple perform, including drawing out all of their personal savings and burning it, having Neil almost fall off a building ledge as a trial to see how much he loves his wife, and making Abby turn over incriminating documents to one of Neil's rivals, implicating him in industrial espionage. On the way into town, though, Tom Ryan (Pierce Brosnan), a mysterious, apparently remorseless psychopath, pops up from the back seat of the Randall's car, brandishing a gun, and informing them that their daughter has been kidnapped. Ready to take a weekend trip with his boss, Neil's bags are packed in the car, a babysitter from their service arrives to take care of Sophie, and Abby is ready to drop him off. He's a shark at work (neatly undercutting a partner to garner a plum presentation), he has a fabulous house in a beautiful Chicago suburb, and a beautiful little girl named Sophie (Emma Karwandy). Married to attractive Abby (Maria Bello), Neil seemingly has the perfect life. Gerard Butler plays Neil Randall, a super-successful Chicago businessman on his way to the top of his firm. Starring Pierce Brosnan, Maria Bello and Gerard Butler, Shattered certainly looks good, and moves well enough through its tightly-paced set-ups, but any viewer even faintly familiar with The Lifetime Movie Channel will spot the so-called 'surprise ending' a mile off, leaving a thoroughly routine kidnapping/revenge flick that plays all too much like a made-for-TV throwaway (indeed, it went straight to TNT here in the U.S., after a test run in a handful of theatres). indie thriller Shattered (which was known as Butterfly on a Wheel for overseas distribution) arrives on DVD from Lionsgate.

Shattered movie 2007