A film based on Maurice Gee’s bestselling book Crime Story hit the big screen in Auckland on Thursday as part of the World Cinema Showcase. Fracture debuted in Wellington on 1 April to critical acclaim. Nicki Harper reviewed it and proclaimed it a

study of family dynamics - Fracture is gritty and unadorned, but sympathetic and sometimes funny in its portrayal of the hardships and disappointments in life.

It manages also to pay homage to the power of determination and hope - especially through the character of Leeanne (Kate Elliot) who manages to keep it together while the lives of the people around her unravel.

The film has been compared to the Australian movie Lantana, but there is a heavyweight NZ cast including Cliff Curtis, Miranda Harcourt, Jennifer Ward Lealand and Michael Hurst.

Larry Parr, who was involved the production of such kiwi icons Smash Palace and Came a Hot Friday fame, has this time directed another NZ story that hometown audiences will relate to.

Even Maurice Gee said he was delighted with Larry Parr’s vision of his book and said Parr’s script was ‘skilful, balanced and intelligent.’ Which is lucky. Fracture has been beset with difficulties since its inception, and this film has had Larry Parr’s career hanging in the balance.

While Parr was shooting the movie, then called Crime Story, in Wellington two years ago his company (Kahukura Productions) collapsed. The NZ Film Commission helped him out with Fracture, but Parr and his wife were forced to sell their home … ‘Poverty’s an interesting experience, said Parr. ‘It’s tough being broke at 50.’

Hopefully this will be a reversal of fortune, Larry. Fracture opens nationwide in early September.