Frailty

At the end of this religious nut killer thriller my eyes were so sore from rolling at the film's predictability and narrative loopholes that I could barely see straight. Bill Paxton (Titanic, Twister) directs and plays the movie's ax-wielding mad dad who considers himself a demon-slayer doing God's will. Told in flashback to a laughably inept FBI agent by Paxton's (known simply as "Dad") grown son (played by Matthew McConaughey), the film earns a few goose bumps (and does it without resorting to blood and guts). But Paxton (the director) fails to maintain any semblance of suspense or common sense: contrived, improbable, and burdened with transparent "twists," Frailty plays like a B-thriller from another era when moviegoers were more naive, easily frightened, and less likely to snicker at a character's inherent stupidity. Not a necessary purchase. [Note: DVD extras include three commentaries (director Bill Paxton; editor Arnold Glassman, producer David Kirschner and composer Brian Tyler; and writer Brent Hanley); an 18-minute "making-of," a 25-minute Sundance Channel "Anatomy of a Scene" behind-the-scenes, eight-minutes of deleted scenes, and photo and storyboard galleries. Bottom line: a notable extras package for a film that split critics right down the middle.] (R. Blackwelder)