Fracture
Directed by Gregory Hoblit
Starring Anthony Hopkins, Ryan Gosling, David Strathairn, and Rosamund Pike.
Backstory
When we last we left our intrepid heroes, their boss had given them tickets to the special advance screening of Next (You can read my review of that film here.) My co-worker and I showed up at the theatre a few hours early, so we decided to see another movie, too. The only one we both really wanted to see we couldn’t see, cuz my buddy had promised to take his girlfriend to it come Saturday night. So, our second choice was the courtroom thriller Fracture.
Plot
Willy Beachum is a young hotshot prosecutor in the District Attorney’s office. He just got himself a new job at one of the city’s most prestigious law firms, and he’s kind of checked out. For his final case, he’s handed the case of Ted Crawford, a structural engineer who just tried to kill his cheating wife. Beachum’s got the confession, the murder weapon, everything, so the case is a slam dunk, right? Wrong. We eventually see that Crawford is the doddering old man he pretends to be, everything starts to unravel, and it starts to get personal. Will Willy be able to get Crawford behind bars?
What I Liked
No one plays a brilliant old genius like Anthony Hopkins. Ryan Gosling once again proves why he was nominated for an Oscar. Great acting all around.
What I Didn’t Like
Maybe I’ve watched too many Law & Order re-runs, but I could see the plot twists coming from miles away. The whole thing was rather dull and clichéd.
Final Assessment
I shrugged my shoulders and went “meh” as I walked out of the theatre. It’s good, but unremarkable.