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Review

Anthony Hopkins plays his “I’m smarter than you, but psychopathic” role, kind of a modified Hannibal Lecter, in Fracture, costarring Ryan Gosling. Ted Crawford (Hopkins) is a fabulously wealthy engineer who catches his wife (Embeth Davidtz) in an affair with a cop (Billy Burke). After confirming his suspicions by shadowing the lovers, he sets a trap for wifey at their fabulously swanky So Cal estate. After shooting her in the face, she is sent to the hospital in a deep coma. Confessing to the crime in front of the cop-turned adulterer, Crawford is sent to jail to await trial, and to argue his own defense. Willy Beachum (Gosling), an up and coming public prosecutor is tapped for what seems to be an open and shut case. Yet Crawford, sly and smart, starts to trip him up at every turn. Firstly, the gun found at the scene, hadn’t even been fired. This gun, and the search for the fired weapon, is the lynchpin of the plot, without it there would be no dramatic development.

Gregory Hoblit (Primal Fear, Fallen, Frequency) polishes what could otherwise be a "Law and Order" episode into a high sheen of beautiful locations and smart camera angles. His ace in the hole is the ramped up acting of Hopkins and Gosling. Hopkins imbues his character with fierce defiance and intelligence, which in the hands of a lesser talent could appear flat and one-dimensional. Gosling is able to coax multiple reactions from his character, avoiding stereotyping his emotional responses. In other words, the acting saves the screenplay. David Strathairn plays the top district attorney, at once Beachum’s mentor and critic, in a role that somewhat wastes his considerable talent. Billy Burke, in his underrated role as the cop, plays it smart, all mean and increasingly despondent.

What is somewhat less satisfying is the number of plot devices upon which the whole logic of the script hangs. These devices are cloaked initially, so as not to give away clues to how Crawford did it. Near the end, the obscurations are whisked away, eliciting the much valued “aha!” experience. Entertaining throughout, but not deep, Fracture will hold the attention of all but the most ADD'd of viewers.

 -- Max Brinck