Fracture

This engaging film centres on the tale of two Wellington whanau, the Rossers and the Peets. Bringing to mind Short Cuts and Lantana, it tells of the lives of numerous interconnected characters... It’s adapted from the novel Crime Story by the great Maurice Gee

Fracture, New Zealand, 2004

Director/screenplay: Larry Parr
Production co: Kahukura Productions
Producer: Charlie McClellan
Based on the novel Crime Story by Maurice Gee
Editor: Jonathan Woodford-Robinson
Cinematographer: Fred Renata
Music: Victoria Kelly
Sound design: Tim Prebble
Production design: Kayne Horsham
Hair and makeup: Frankie Karena
Costume design: Amanda Neale
Casting: Liz Mullane

With: Kate Elliott (Leeanne Rosser), Jared Turner (Brent Rosser), Tim Lee (Clyde Rosser), Miranda Harcourt (Irene Rosser), Jamal Spellacey (Sam Rosser), John Noble (Howard Peet), Liddy Holloway (Gwen Peet), Jennifer Ward-Lealand (Ulla Peet), Michael Hurst (Athol Peet), Alistair Browning (Gordon Peet), Alicia Fulford-Wierzbicki (Olivia Peet), Sara Brodie (Darlene Peet), Paul Glover (Danny), Brenda Kendall (Mrs. Ponder), Julian Arahanga (Detective Harawira), Tammy Davis (Det. Peters), Jay Saussey (Jody), Sophia Hawthorne (Jasmine), Jed Brophy (Tony Dorio)

35mm, 99 minutes, R13–contains violence, drug use & offensive language

“This engaging film centres on the tale of two Wellington whanau, the Rossers and the Peets. Bringing to mind Short Cuts and Lantana, it tells of the lives of numerous interconnected characters... It’s adapted from the novel Crime Story by the great Maurice Gee. At Fracture’s core is Leeanne Rosser a sympathetic young solo mum struggling to do the right thing by her baby son. Elliott’s poignant work, following on from promising turns in Toy Love and The Locals, is her career best. Leeanne’s Wainui mother has gone all fundamentalist crazy, and renounced her with ‘Christian charity’. Her father, actor Tim Lee – whose performance is a highlight of the overall strong acting – is a blend of world-weary resignation and tenderness. Her flatmate is a nightmare. Her dear brother Brent is a mentally unbalanced thief on the verge of cracking up. During a botched robbery in Kelburn, Brent accidentally paralyses homeowner Ulla Peet. Ulla’s injury sends ruptures through the Peet family. Hard bitten Peet whanau patriarch Howard is a self-made man. This kingpin of the property game is currently driving a really dodgy plot to develop the waterfront. The mayor is corruptly complicit in his plan. Howard’s somewhat stately gravity is complemented with a rough wit. Fracture has its flaws, but there’s plenty to like. In keeping with its source, it has a generous amount of potent dialogue... Like a superior juggler, Parr skilfully balances the many characters and sub-plots. The movie gains resonance from its evocation of our fair city, and the images of our beautiful harbour are especially pleasing. So instead of wasting your money on one of the many unsatisfying overseas movies around, go and see Fracture.” — Dominion Post, 10 September 2004

“... Dealing with the snowball effect of Brent’s crime on two families, Fracture is a character-driven film. Luckily all the characters are compelling and multi-dimensional enough to keep us interested... In Gee’s novel, Parr has great foundations for his script and chooses to focus on Leanne as the central character. While all the characters in Fracture are desperate people, it is Leanne’s plight as a single mum spurned by her fundamentalist Christian mother that is particularly futile. Part thriller, part social-realist tale, the most engaging thing about Fracture is watching how the intricate story unfolds. One of its strengths is that it is refreshingly unpredictable. The stakes are constantly raised and the action well-paced, sustaining a good momentum, which is aided by great juxtapositions between scenes to keep the whole affair moving along. While you have to be in the mood for it, Fracture is a fine, well-delivered yarn that had its beginnings as an even better book.” — Kiran Dass, Sunday Star Times, 5 September 2004

“To local movie industry watchers, Fracture is the film formerly known as Crime Story. It was the production which was at the centre of the 2002 collapse of Kahukura Productions which left a pile of headlines – Peter Jackson vs the NZ Film Commission among them – and a mess involving three other features of more modest budget than the reported $2.2 million this one cost. Its struggle since to make it to our screens, that bad buzz about the film undoubtedly making potential local distributors wary, has meant it arrives on a single Auckland screen just a few weeks ahead of another Maurice Gee novel adaptation In My Father's Den. It would be easy to say the financial woes behind Fracture mean the film is a write-off, another one for that dark and forgotten corridor in the Film Commission basement, the Kiwi film hall of shame. But it's not. It's a mildly captivating saga that captures the city of Wellington and two families' worth of its inhabitants in a fresh cinematic light. Ultimately, it's flawed by being overburdened by its vast cast, labyrinthine plotting, and need to resolve the plights of all its characters. But among those roles are some fine performances. Among the standouts are Australian John Noble (Denethor in Return of the King) as Howard Peet, a hard bastard property developer who started out as a "chippie from Wainui" (even if his accent suggests Wagga Wagga). He's neatly matched by Liddy Holloway as Gwen, as his unflappable ex-wife and the anchor of the troubled Peet clan. Kate Elliot, as single mother Leeanne Rosser, carries much of the film with a brittle energy and toughness which contrasts with her physical fragility. It's easy to be impressed by the depth and width of the ensemble – apart from the cast listed above, the minor players include Cliff Curtis and Julian Arahanga as detectives, cameos from Rawiri Paratene as a judge and Nancy Brunning as a doctor and young Alicia Fulford-Wierzbicki as Gwen's grand-daughter in her second film role since Rain. … Fracture is a film of handsome production values, Fred Renata's cinematography suggests a stifling hot summer and oddly windless Wellington with Victoria Kelly's brooding score adding to the unsettling tone. It's only writer-director Parr's second turn as a director (after many producer credits). Given his involvement in the Kahukura collapse, it's perhaps remarkable that his film has emerged seemingly unscathed and with a solid vision intact…” — Russell Baillie, New Zealand Herald, 4/9/2004

Screenings: Fracture screened on 14 March 2007 as part of the Adapted: NZ Literature into Film season.