Fracture

BOTTOM LINE: Anthony Hopkins turns in a brilliantly tricky, yet understated performance in a film that tells a good story but lacks any real tension to get you emotionally invested.

THE GOOD: The previews of this film seemed to suggest a clever-Hannibal type performance from Anthony Hopkins. In many ways, his character is obviously not Hannibal but he does create a very intelligent, cunning character in Ted Crawford. He's so confident he's going to outsmart the legal system that he actually confesses to the murder of his wife at the beginning of the film yet somehow manages to escape conviction by exploiting the legal system's flaws. It's fascinating to watch. There's also a bit of humour and by-play with Ryan Gosling's character Willy who thinks he has the case in the bag when he has no idea who he's dealing with.

THE BAD: The film doesn't really have any tension, and yet it has all the beats of a thriller. One of the problems is Ryan Gosling; he just doesn't match the screen presence of Anthony Hopkins which would be a tough call under any scenario. I guess they couldn't get Jodie Foster. As a result, you appreciate Hopkins' performance but without having someone solid to bounce off, it doesn't really carry any weight. That's a shame because the setup of this film is promising, and indeed it has a lot of intriguing moments, but you come away feeling that it could've been a whole lot more.

RATING: 7/10

Todd Murphy <br />
http://www.allaboutmovies.net

I thought Fracture was going to be more action-packed than it was. Sure, it was definitely suspenseful, but not in an explosions-going-off or guns-blazing way. It was a psychological thriller, but I felt like it could have done more to cater towards the action audience.

Fracture is about a man who plainly kills his wife after he learns of her affair with a police officer, but no one can prove the man did it because of lack of evidence. An up-and-coming lawyer takes on the case just before he is about to leave the firm he works for for a higher division, and, having not lost a case, doesn't take the man as seriously in the beginning as he needs to.

As my father pointed out, Anthony Hopkins' prime acting career seems pretty devoted to genius madmen. The guy is smart in this movie too; actually, very smart. But that doesn't stop Ryan Gosling from getting the best of him. The movie is all about the breaking point, and it really does live up to that by treating our protagonist to his ultimate breaking point, and then having Anthony Hopkins reach his breaking point and then cross OVER it, but the audience is also treated to their breaking point.

The movie feels like a longer version of a Law and Order episode. And you would think that with a young, good-looking actor like Gosling, you would use it to your advantage to pull off ridiculous macho stunts. Sadly, the movie doesn't feature and gun battles, only men and women in suit and tie.

The beginning of the movie is pretty fast-paced and entertaining, but when we get to the middle of it when trying to search for clues or how to stop the guy, it seems the movie falls short in knowing exactly what to do. Clue-searching isn't exactly fascinating work like it seems in CSI:, and I understand that, but it feels pretty weighted down and slow. Towards the end, the pace of the movie picks up again as we near the pretty interesting conclusion, so I guess 2/3 of the movie being entertaining isn't bad.

But the conclusion seems a little too convenient for me. I mean, they figure out how the killer did it by identical cell phones, which gives them the idea that the killer had the same gun as the cop. You would think that someone, especially the cop with the same gun, would have picked up on that way way before. But I guess not. I just wasn't fully swayed by the explanation they gave.

But hey, it was definitely worth the 2 hours. It felt more like an hour and a half, like a regular movie, and I can't complain. I was definitely entertained, but almost pushed to my own breaking point during the slow middle third of the movie.

Oh, and by the way, it's obviously no Silence of the Lambs.

Last updated: 2009-08-24 03:32:13 by Ryneb

Studio: New Line Cinema

MPAA Rating: R

Director: Gregory Hoblit

Review Rating: 5

Reviewed by Alicia Glass 

Millionare Ted Crawford executes his wife after learning of her having an affair with a detective, and then proceeds to turn his trial and young hotshot prosecutor attorney Willy Beachum into a clockwork motion with all the moves already anticipated to set Crawford free.

If you like courtroom dramas like Primal Fear, this movie might be for you. Otherwise, it’s charmingly devastating and clever only once, no point in a repeat. There’s no real surprise twists, not a lot of astounding bait-and-switch from the villain, and the prosecuting attorney who has a nice cushy job waiting for him fails utterly at trying to pull off the idea that he just can’t stand being taken by the old guy who’s winning. We know Crawford killed his wife, that’s at the beginning of the movie. We even know why, it’s obvious---the detective first on the scene when Crawford is caught, is the one with whom Crawford’s wife was having the affair. And so predictably, he loses it. Things continue on through the trial, with Crawford playing every string he has and getting away with it too. Frustration mounts, and yes there is a final “Gotcha!” scene at the end, but it’s rather anticlimactic.

Anthony Hopkins does a fair job for the role they gave him, which frankly, wasn’t much. If they wanted a Hannibal Lecter dose of creepy, they should have fleshed out Crawford’s character more. And Ryan Gosling in his role as Beachum is very stiff and hurried, like both the actor and the character had someplace better to be.

It is enough to waste an afternoon watching this movie, just once. After that, the (weak) surprise ending is done and frankly, doesn’t bear repeating.

And crackers don't matter! -- Farscape

Last updated: 2010-02-12 12:29:23 by aliciamovie

Fracture is a terrific thriller that stars the great Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling.

The film’s plot centers Gosling as an attorney who tries to move ahead in his career to a big firm but in his way there’s one last case to deal with and there he’ll face a manipulative man played by Hopkins.

The plot is very good and what looks like an easy case for Beachum (Gosling) turns to a nightmare as there is no clear evidence to put Crawford (Hopkins) away.

The entire film surroundes around the mind games between Crawford and Beachum. Up to the end nothing is clear how it will end and the beauty in this film is that you can think like an attorney yourself and maybe try and help beachum convict Crawford.

The film is directed beautifully and it is great fun watching it and working your own brains in order to try and guess the plot and maybe the ending of the film.

It’s 113 minutes which is good because it has everything a good thriller need. Suspense, thrill and you guessing the ending...when it comes, everything will be understood.

There are emotional scenes in the film as well and you actually can see and feel how evil Hopkins can be in this film and it reminds a lot of him in Silence of The Lambs, which is always a bonus.
All in all, I recommend this film a lot. I have watched it a couple of times, I think it is a film with a good plot, good actors like Gosling and Hopkins and is shot in a good way. You have nothing to lose, worst case scenario you won’t like it, but somehow I think you will...want to bet on it? Go watch this triller, it’s a good one all to the end of it...

Jessie