Fracture is a high stakes game of cat and mouse between Ted Crawford (Hopkins) and Willy Beachum (Gosling). Ted is a genius, whose wife is having an affair. As an act of revenge he figures out how to kill her in a way that leaves no doubt that he did it, but also no evidence to convict him. Willy is the assistant D.A. whose job it is to get a conviction.
Anthony Hopkins once again proves that he can deliver a riveting performance that out classes everyone else on the set, this of course plays into his character who is clearly the most intelligent mind in the story. Of course the plot is structured so that you are never quite sure who is going to win, right up to the slightly convoluted ending.
It is for the most part a well paced, brilliantly acted masterpiece of suspense. The Hollywood spit and polish is all there making Fracture an entertaining night in front of the TV.
Food for thought (spoilers): Whilst on the surface Fracture is a story about manipulating the perfect crime, when you scratch a little you’ll see it’s a perfect parable about pride. All the main characters all share this massive character flaw, and for all three of them it spells their downfall. Ted and Willy are both so self-assured of themselves that they overlook simple things and make huge mistakes. The arresting detective and Willy’s new boss/girlfriend all display prideful attributes that cause them problems as well, re-enforcing the proverb that pride comes before a fall.
Trivia: When Anthony Hopkins character is being arraigned, a directory of judges is seen over his shoulder with the names Eads and Vacarro. Those are the last names of the production designer and set designer, respectively.
When Willy Beachum is in his office, the boxes behind his desk are labeled “People .vs. Morgenthau” – Kramer Morgenthau was the cinematographer for the film and another box reads, “People .vs. Beaupre” – Steven F. Beaupre was the second assistant director.
Reviewed by: Jonathan Read. Rating: M – Contains Violence, Sexual References & Offensive Language. Duration: 112 mins. Genre: Suspense & Thriller. Director: Gregory Hoblit. Actors: Anthony Hopkins, David Strathairn, Embeth Davidtz, Cliff Curtis, Rosamund Pike, Billy Burke, Ryan Gosling. Distributor: Roadshow. Release Date: Out Now.
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