Weinstock Productions, Castle Rock Entertainment

Director: Gregory Hoblit

Principal Actors: Anthony Hopkins, Ryan Gosling. David Strathairn, Rosamund Pike, Embeth Davidtz

Release Date: April 20th, 2007 Genre: Psychological Thriller

Film website: www.fracturemovie.com

4.5 stars

Reviewer Emily Axelson

Given the fact that Ryan Gosling constantly comes out with superb movies and gives remarkable performances, I couldn’t help but worry that this film wouldn’t measure up to my standards for him. I was wrong. This clever thriller is loaded with twists and turns, and keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling are outstanding together. They both deliver superb performances, and you can feel the tension between them as they attempt to outsmart each other.

Willy Beachum, (Gosling) is a talented prosecutor with a 97% conviction rate. He uses this fact to score a job with the most high profile firm in the city. He takes on one last case as a district attorney before leaving for a private practice. Ted Crawford, played by Hopkins, shoots his wife Jennifer, (Davidtz) after discovering she was having an affair. He signs a confession, and requests moving immediately to trial; he goes one step further and insists on representing himself. The only problem is that the gun Ted used for the shooting is nowhere to be found. Willy is informed that it was a sure to win case, considering the confession. He figured that the missing gun wouldn’t make a difference with the confession as a safety net. Willy brings Rob Nunally, (Burke) to the witness stand, as the policeman who arrested Ted. Ted reveals that Rob was the man having an affair with Jennifer, causing the confession to be useless as tainted evidence. Suddenly the sure to win case transforms into a mind game between Ted and Willy. Crawford makes a living from finding flaws in aircrafts and now he’s turned his attention to finding Willy’s flaw. As Willy struggles to solve the case, Ted studies Willy to find and exploit his weakness, which Ted refers to as ‘the fracture.’ Both men end up having the same fracture - the constant need to win, at any cost.

This unique thriller goes in a direction I’ve never yet seen. It proceeds in many unpredictable ways, leaving the audience guessing. Before watching the film, I worried that Anthony Hopkins’ performance would be somewhat of a repeat of his performances in so many other films when he plays the clever villain. However, Hopkins manages to bring some fresh perspective and originality to the screen as an intellectual and manipulative criminal challenging Gosling’s character. All of the actors portray their roles in a very believable way, (particularly Hopkins), and the supporting actors do a fantastic job in their performances as well. It’s not always 100% entertaining, there are slow times. However, the brilliance of the rest out weighs the slow scenes. It’s not purely for entertainment; it’s mainly to make the audience think. In order to enjoy this film fully, you will need to be prepared to ponder the production during and after the show. I strongly recommend this film if you’re a fan of psychological thrillers, or if you’re in the mood to watch a suspenseful yet pensive movie, that has a good twist (or in this case, more twists than a roller coaster ride). To me, this film has almost no noteworthy fractures.