Fracture (Widescreen Edition)
Academy Award® winner Anthony Hopkins and Academy Award® nominee Ryan Gosling are brilliant in this “exceptionally suspenseful nail-biter” (Rex Reed) that’s so smart it “doesn’t let go, even after the final twist” (Gene Shalit, “Today”). Ted Crawford (Hopkins) brutally murders his wife and calmly waits for the police to arrest him. With the weapon and a signed confession in hand, Deputy D.A., Willy Beachum (Gosling), believes a conviction is a slam dunk; that is until the case completely unravels. Now, with little evidence, Beachum goes head to head with the cunning Mr. Crawford in a desperate search for the truth and the answer to one burning question: How is this guy getting away with murder?Anthony Hopkins plays a brilliant, pathologically serene killer outwitting the good guys at every turn and taking a shine to a twentysomething law enforcer who can’t conceal a rural accent and rugged origins. Could it be…? No, not The Silence of the Lambs, but an original mystery, Fracture, which plays a little like Lambs as an episode of Columbo, minus Columbo. Which means the film tells us from the get-go that Hopkins’ character, a wealthy engineer, shoots his philandering wife (Embeth Davidtz) and leaves her in a vegetative state. From there, it should be a simple matter for young, assistant District Attorney Willy Beachum (Ryan Gosling) to nail Crawford, who provides a full confession and even eschews counsel. That’s good for Beachum, a slick winner with a vague background of deprivation, rapidly on his way out of public service after attracting the attention of a deep-pocket, private firm. What he doesn’t know, however, is that Crawford has masterminded more than vengeance against his wife, and that the state’s case against him is full of pre-arranged holes and a huge time-bomb that will send Beachum scrambling to keep the pieces together. The story, conceived and co-scripted by Daniel Pyne (Doc Hollywood), goes down easily with a minimum of blood and violence, and should easily appeal to mystery buffs as well as old fans of Hopkins and new admirers of Oscar nominee Gosling (Half Nelson). The latter holds his own in multiple, two-character scenes with the masterful portrayer of Hannibal Lecter, pacing Beachum’s reactions to Crawford’s polite provocations so everything spills onto his youthful face: torn loyalties, confusion, gullibility. Director Gregory Hoblit (Hart’s War), still best-known for decades of distinguished television work (NYPD Blue), brings the necessary intimacy to make the stars’ chemistry work effectively. His noirish atmosphere is a little over the top, sometimes pushing the audience to a level of expectation that the film isn’t really ready to deliver, but this, overall, is an enjoyable work. –Tom Keogh
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(out of 136 reviews)
Review by K. Corn for Fracture (Widescreen Edition)
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First of all, the movie starts off with a murder and you know who the murderer is. So it isn’t a suspense story as much as a psychological thriller, the type that pits two very strong personalities against one another (played by Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling).
Each is a control freak and each is ambitious. The whole thrill of this movie is watching the characters, seeing how they develop and change and wondering how this will all play out.
Looking at the reviews that others have written for this movie, it is clear that people tended to love or hate this movie -and I think I understand why. For one thing, you KNOW what happened -and why -almost from the start. But I happen to like character-driven movies and this one is definitely in that vein. Yes, Hopkins does seem to recreate his Hannibel Lechter personalty (or hints of it) but that worked out fine in this instance.
Review by Simon H. Murray for Fracture (Widescreen Edition)
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Fracture is a great psychological drama that stars Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling. Fracture is a film with qualities reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock era that really left me guessing until the very end. Gosling’s performance as a young smitten lawyer named Willie Beachum is something to applaud. I was not impressed when he was cast in a crime thriller called “Murder by Numbers” with Sandra Bullock a few years ago, but those thoughts are now erased from my memory. Beachum takes on the case of a successful engineer named Ted Crawford, who is accused of attempted murder. As the clues become less and less presentable, Beachum suddenly realizes that Crawford is playing some sort of game, and it is a game of chance and elaborate mind games that Beachum just might win.
Fracture did not douse me with puzzles, in fact it really held back in that area and yet the continual drama that played out between the two main characters was more than enough to keep me not just guessing, but simply interested in the film’s story as a whole.
Review by Andres C. Salama for Fracture (Widescreen Edition)
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This courtroom drama could have been called Hannibal Lite. Though nothing extraordinary, it’s well done and enticing. Hopkins plays a brilliant engineer who, after brutally killing his adulterous wife, calmly waits for the police to arrest him. The cocky, young Deputy District Attorney (Ryan Gosling, in a fine performance as a quintessential yuppie) believes this would be an easy case to prosecute, but things don’t turn out as expected, and a chilling battle of minds soon ensues. The denouement turns out to be quite disappointing (the filmmakers seem to believe that the audience would not stand a movie where the guilty get away with murder) but for most of its running time, this is a fine, well done thriller.
Review by Craig Connell for Fracture (Widescreen Edition)
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If you like courtroom dramas, appreciate excellent acting and an expertly-filmed movie this is for you. Only once, I think, have I ever proclaimed something “best movie of the year” and all that, because it’s all too subjective and also a cliché but that’s how I feel about this movie unless something better comes along the last few months of 2007.
This is just a fabulous movie with Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling playing characters who engage in a battle of wits. Hopkins plays a husband who discovers his wife having an affair, shoots her, confesses the same night and then has things cleverly arranged where it’s almost impossible to convict him. Gosling plays a young, hotshot prosecuting attorney on his way to bigger and better things with a change of scenery to corporate law but gets stuck with this open-and-shut case right before he switches firms. The trouble is, it’s a lot more than he figured and he isn’t used to losing. Hopkins knows this, of course, and plays on his vanity.
Gosling evolves from a me-only lawyer to someone who really wants justice, even if it costs him. Both characters are cocky and smart and the twists and turns just add to the fun.
I enjoyed watching all the actors performances and was very impressed. The camera-work by Director Of Photography Kramer Morgenthau should also be recognized, along with director Gregory Hoblit, who seems to direct very entertaining films (“Frequency,” “Fallen,” etc.)
I could have watched this story unfold for another two hours and would have been happy to do so, am I’m not one to sit still for long periods these days. That’s how good this was….just Grade A film-making and storytelling.
Review by Andrew Desmond for Fracture (Widescreen Edition)
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Let there be no doubt, Anthony Hopkins plays a very good “bad guy”. Obviously, his best role was in “Silence of the Lambs” where he was evil personified. However, in “Fracture”, he is also excellent as the alleged killer of his philandering wife.
In brief, “Fracture” is a court room drama. Hopkins plays the part of Ted Crawford who has chosen to murder his wife in cold blood. The crime is to be prosecuted by Ryan Gosling playing the role of Willy Beachum. To Beachum, the case is a “slam dunk”. Apparently, there is a signed confession, a murder weapon and a motive. However, as we soon learn, the case is far more complicated than it appears to be a first glance. Ted Crawford is a clever man who has left no tracks. Indeed, he is acquitted. But hubris then takes hold. If only he had chosen not to continue to press the envelope.
On small criticism I have of the movie is that the gun was never traced by its serial number. When you see the movie, this point will make sense. It’s a clear weakness in the plot. If not, the police department involved was monumentally incompetent.
In spite of my criticism, the movie is worth seeing. Not great, but certainly good.