Shattered

Directed by Wolfgang Petersen, Shattered follows Tom Berenger’s Dan Merrick as he attempts to recover from a car crash that’s left him with complete amnesia. Filmmaker Petersen, armed with his own screenplay, delivers a slow-moving yet mostly engrossing thriller that benefits from its strong performances and intriguing mystery, as, in terms of the former, Berenger’s predictably commanding turn as the sympathetic protagonist is matched by such first-class periphery players as Greta Scacchi, Joanne Whalley-Kilmer, and Corbin Bernsen. (It’s clear, however, that Bob Hoskins, playing a pet-shop-owner/private investigator, offers up irresistibly off-kilter work that remains an ongoing highlight within the proceedings.) And while the narrative admittedly does contain a handful of palpable lulls, Shattered builds towards a gripping third act capped off with an absolutely insane (and thoroughly memorable) twist that alone justifies the picture’s entire existence – with the end result a solid ’90s thriller that certainly goes in unexpected directions (to put it mildly).

*** out of ****