Fracture Details

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[Highly rated reviewer]

superb

this film is superb. When Ted Crawford played by Anthony Hopkins discovers that his beautiful younger wife, Jennifer played by Embeth Davidtz, is having an affair, he plans her murder…the perfect murder.

Amongst the police officers arriving at the crime scene, is hostage negotiator Detective Rob Nunally played by Billy Burke, the only officer permitted entry into the house, as Ted knows full well that Rob is the man, his wife has been cavorting with

Surprisingly, Crawford readily admits to shooting his wife, but Nunally is too stunned to pay close attention, when he recognizes his lover, whose true identity he never knew, lying on the floor in a pool of blood.

Although Jennifer was shot at point blank range, Nunally soon realizes that she is not dead.

Crawford is immediately arrested and arraigned after confessing to Jennifer's murder - but now is charged with attempted murder.

this becomes a seemingly slam-dunk case, for hot shot assistant district attorney, Willy Beachum played by Ryan Gosling, who has one foot out of the door of the District Attorney’s office, on his way to a lucrative job in high-stakes corporate law. his conviction record is seamless.

With Willy distracted by his overblown confidence and his new boss Nikki played by Rosamund Pike, Ted who is representing himself in court, begins to manipulate the system, so that Willy's slam-dunk case quickly turns into an air ball.

during one interrogation, Ted tells Willy a story. The story is about sorting eggs on a farm when he was a boy, and about putting aside 300 eggs that all had minute cracks or imperfections. The moral is that everything has a weakness if you look closely enough. Hopkins is using the story to warn Gosling, that his near perfect conviction record, is about to be tested like never before.

The battle of wills between the two leads is central to the movie, and their combat is electrifying. one major problem for Willy is - where is the gun, used to shoot Jennifer?

When Willy can not find any evidence proving Crawford is guilty, everything turns into an all-out psychological fight for proof.

Fracture is a superior psychological thriller that keeps you guessing, right until the end.

well worth watching.

Worth the Hype

Despite his apparent stellar status, I've always found Ryan Gosling irritating. I've also never been a super-fan of Anthony Hoskins. But the hype for this film was worth it, as both deliver excellent performances and crank up the tension as things move along at a cracking pace.