Fracture

Year: 2007
Director: Gregory Hoblit
Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Ryan Gosling, David Strathairn, Rosamund Pike, Billy Burke, Embeth Davidtz, Cliff Curtis


The tagline for this film is "If you look close enough, you'll find everyone has a weak spot." Well, it didn't take long for me to find the numerous weak spots this film has. But first, let's get to the story.

In Fracture, Anthony Hopkins plays Ted Crawford, an aviation millionaire who spends his free time playing with a contraption that carries marbles all around a metal rollercoaster of sorts. He discovers his wife, Jennifer (Davidtz) having an affair with a police officer, so one night when she reaches home, he shoots her in the head. When the cops arrive, led by Lt Robert Nunally (Burke), who happens to be the same man Ted's wife has been sleeping with, Ted confesses to the crime. Robert promptly arrests Ted when he realises that Jennifer is the victim.

Enter Willy Beachum (Gosling), a young lawyer working for the DA, Joe Labruto (Strathairn). Willy is about to leave the office and accept a lucrative post at a well known law firm. Ted's case falls on his lap, and though Willy is tempted to pass it over, he takes it anyway, thinking that it's an open shut case, since Ted has already confessed.

After encountering Ted at his arraignment and in the lockup, Willy is surprised to learn of Ted's strange decisions regarding his case. Firstly, Ted fires his lawyer and chooses to represent himself in court. Then he blatantly disregards all the evidence pointing at him. Willy thinks he has the old man right where he wants him, until they get to court and Ted pulls out his trump card. Ted reveals Lt Nunally's involvement in the case, thereby jeopardising the confession he made to the latter. That, added to the fact that the gun recovered by the police has never been fired, turns Willy's case on its head.

Willy now realises that Ted has planned the whole thing well, and is on the verge of getting away with the perfect murder. But that's not the only problem Willy faces. He also has to contend with the possibility of losing his new post at the new law firm if he doesn't win. Nikki Gardner (Pike), his new boss at the firm, warns him of the danger Willy is getting himself into if he continues to pursue this case instead of letting Labruto put someone else on it. However, Willy refuses to quit and tries to find a way to stop Ted from successfully manipulating the system.

Fracture is basically a cat and mouse game between two individuals, a familiar storyline we've seen in many films before. The plot is interesting enough, but the entire film falls flat. Director Gregory Hoblit, who gave us the impressive Denzel Washington thriller, Fallen, only manages to make this film half as good as that. Fracture moves at a slow pace, and Hoblit fails to get the best performances out of his cast, despite them being really good actors.

Hopkins is a great actor, no doubt about it. But he seems bored in a few scenes, and is brilliant in several others, which just makes him look inconsistent. Gosling on the other hand looks lost for most of the film. The middle third of the movie focuses on Willy trying to figure out the maze that he has to navigate out of, but Gosling couldn't pull enough weight to carry that part of the film convincingly. Pike is still as wooden as ever in front of the camera, I wonder why she still acts. The only good performances come from Strathairn and Curtis, who plays Detective Flores, the policeman assigned to Ted's case. But overall, the lethargic pace and performances make it a real tedious film to sit through and thoroughly enjoy. Kinda like watching a movie made for TV.

Verdict: A potentially good film that fails to get off the starting blocks. (2.5/5)