CriticSociety- film reviews

Review

Fracture

Director

Gregory Hoblit

Year

2007

Rating

Reviewed by

José Ruiloba a.k.a. Morris

Review date

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Fracture is one of those movies you instantly know won’t require much from you. The sort of escapist thrillers with good actors that are made with a more commercial vein in mind and which are not harmful to anyone, regardless of whether they turn out to be good or not. Movies you go and see because they look fun and are the perfect choice for a Sunday afternoon. I think you know what I’m talking about.

Ted Crawford (Anthony Hopkins) shoots his wife Jennifer (Embeth Davidtz) after he finds out she’s having an affair with hostage negotiator Rob Nunally (Billy Burke). When Nunally himself arrests him Crawford confesses to what he just did, and soon prosecutor Willy Beachum (Ryan Gosling) is appointed to the case, despite the fact that he’s about to begin a new job in a law firm with beautiful Nikki Gardner (Rosamund Pike) as his boss.

Gregory Hoblit directed from a script by Daniel Pyne and Glenn Gers. Hoblit is a director who is respected in varying degrees by moviegoers. I happen to think he has a solid track of movies that may not be classics, but at least do what they’re supposed to. In this case though, I won’t be defending him much. Or maybe the screenplay is to blame. Either way, I left the theater underwhelmed about what I’d just seen.

The basic idea behind Fracture is the cat-and-mouse game between Crawford and Beachum. Or at least that’s its most interesting aspect. I certainly was expecting a delicious back-and-forth between these two masterminds, but instead it only gives the appearance of being that. If you deconstruct the plot, the whole movie is about how there isn’t a gun that frames Crawford for the attempt of murder. It isn’t a game, it isn’t a puzzle, it’s just a missing gun, period. Since this is so thin an idea the writers try to make us believe that we’re actually seeing a drama which we care about, so we get a lot of exposition regarding Beachum’s life as he juggles between two jobs and gets involved with his new boss. Bo-ring. What we want to see is Crawford being evil and clever, and he only gets to do so sporadically.

The ending, by the way, is ingenious, if a bit unspectacular. Hoblit underplays it; I might’ve liked a bit more impact. Then again, it isn’t a movie you’d walk out of, since you really want to know how it evolves and that is an asset I guess. Jeff and Michael Danna’s score is another one.

If there’s something that the movie has going for it is the presence of Anthony Hopkins. The actor chews the scenery and brings a little Hannibal Lecter to the table. His screen presence is so strong that everyone else pales in comparison. That said, Ryan Gosling does a good job as the cocky lawman that sees everything crumble as Crawford keeps toying with his plans. Rosamund Pike also leaves an impression; she doesn’t have much of a character, but she makes the most out of it.

“Oh, I’d say homicidal modern.”

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