Fracture Review
by Steve Rhodes (Steve DOT Rhodes AT InternetReviews DOT com)April 19th, 2007
FRACTURE
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2007 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ***
FRACTURE, by director Gregory Hoblit (PRIMAL FEAR and FREQUENCY), is a wonderfully moody and very classy film about a game of wits between an obviously guilty defendant and an overconfident Deputy District Attorney (DDA). In a bit of perfect casting, Anthony Hopkins plays murderer Ted Crawford, and Ryan Gosling plays DDA Willy Beachum.
Fabulously wealthy Ted is a brilliant engineer who runs a high tech company. But, as accomplished as he is at work, his love life is waning. His wife Jennifer (Embeth Davidtz) is having an affair with Rob Nunally (Billy Burke), a lieutenant in the Los Angeles Police Department. Ted figures out a way to kill his wife and still get off scot-free -- or so he hopes and assumes.
Meanwhile, back at the courthouse, Willy is in the process of leaving his job working for "God," a.k.a. legendary DA Joe Lobruto (David Strathairn). Willy is being made an offer to come to work for a prestigious law firm that offers incredible perks and ridiculous salaries. It's also the company where his sexy, soon-to-be girlfriend Nikki Gardner (Rosamund Pike) works. She is a more senior lawyer and will be assigned to supervise his work.
As Willy is answering cell phone calls from his new firm -- they need him to choose the motif for his new office furniture as well as his favorite fabrics and colors -- he is trying to quickly wrap up a slam-dunk case he just reluctantly agreed to take.
You guessed it. Willy's parting case is none other than the attempted murder charge against Ted, whose wife inconveniently became comatose rather than dead. But, since they have Ted's signed confession, the murder weapon and the shell casings, this is a case that can't be lost, especially since Ted makes the seemingly silly decision to defend himself.
As a brilliant buffoon, Ted makes mincemeat of Willy at the trial. Ted is so accomplished that we come to admire him and maybe even secretly root for him in the sure and certain knowledge that Willy will undoubtedly soon discover a mother load of evidence to tilt the scales in favor of justice.
The script is quite remarkable in how long and how far it takes Willy, a prosecutor with a 97% conviction rate, into a legalistic black hole. The movie is filled with obviously telegraphed twists that never actually occur, creating real surprise in the audience. And with its beautiful cinematography, which is heavy on bluish-tinted shadows, the film goes down as well with our eyes as our brains. Plus, it is actually quite funny, which is an unexpected bonus.
FRACTURE runs 1:53. It is rated R for "language and some violent content" and would be acceptable for teenagers.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, April 20, 2007. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
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Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
