Fracture

WARNING: This review is hidden because it reveals the content of the film.
Click here to show this review. Thanks to some good performances and a gripping story," Fracture" overcomes its flaws and becomes a terrific courtroom thriller with a small side of a detective story. Ryan Gosling plays Willy Beachum, a public attorney on his way out. He’s played his cards right, he’s never lost a case and now he’s leaving behind the public service stuff and moving to a law firm where he will represent those unscrupulous types that will shell out the big bucks. That’s when he gets locked into a battle of wits. Theodore Crawford (Anthony Hopkins) is representing himself and everything points to the fact that he isn’t even trying to hide the fact that he murdered his wife (Embeth Davidtz) but what should have been an open-and-shut case becomes increasingly complex. Beachum becomes obsessed with outsmarting this opponent.

Who doesn’t love a good battle of wits? That’s what this movie is all about. We know that Crawford did it; we know how he did it. Willy knows the same thing, but the problem is that this guy planned out the crime meticulously. He’s way ahead of everyone and getting him in a spot where the jury will recognize that he’s guilty? It seems like a daunting task at best, if not an impossible one. Anthony Hopkins basically plays the same creep that we have loved for years. Be it Hannibal Lecter or Van Helsing, he’s always smarter than everyone else, he knows it and is having a ball running circles around the normals. I once heard that you can tell a good movie from a tangible joy of performance and it’s definitely here in a villain you kind of want to see get away with it… which makes it that much more exciting. Opposite Hopkins is Ryan Gosling, who is quickly becoming someone I actively seek out when I’m looking for a movie. His character is smart and ambitious… but maybe a little bit too ambitious. He’s a jerk at first but you get to warm up for him, if only so that smug murderer can get that grin wiped off his face. Beachum is at a disadvantage here. I mean who could stand a chance against a criminal mastermind such as Crawford? I said it earlier but I’ll say it again. The fun part of this movie is that whether the bad guy gets away with it or not, the audience wins because you’re cheering for the both of them. The smartest guy is going to be the one who triumphs and witnessing how the film will get there; it’s a nail bitter and a story to get giddy about.

I really like the premise of the film and I love the twisty execution of it all. I’m not sure if a lot of people remember this movie from when it came out (I know it was a decent money grabber) but they should. The plot is tight with no characters making excessively stupid decisions in order for a piece of this or that to fall in the right spot, the performances are good and these two opponents would be more than enough to carry the film… but together? Woah! When I sat down to watch this movie, it was after my late shift at the video store, where I had been sort of half-watching the movie at first. When my shift was over, I rushed home, popped my own DVD into the player and had re-watched the best bits before excitedly finishing the film. I realized it was getting really late but I didn’t care because I was having such a good time with “Fracture”. (On DVD, February 10, 2013)