Running time: 105 minutes
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Ryan Gosling, David Strathairn, Rosamund Pike, Billy Burke
Rating 7 out of 10
When Anthony Hopkins has his head bowed slightly, his gaze tilted upwards and his heavy lids barely concealing a chilling stare, there are few more unnerving sights in cinema. It was this indelible image that made Hannibal Lecter so memorably fearful. It's the same look he adopts on occasion here in his portrayal of attempted murder suspect Theodore Crawford. An effective thriller, Fracture's strength lies in the performances of Hopkins and Ryan Gosling, who plays young district attorney Willy Beechum. Their battle of wills and skills is reminiscent of the relationship Lecter had with Clarence Starling in The Silence Of The Lambs. Comparisons with Lecter will inevitably follow Hopkins, but it's clear that Fracture's director Gregory Hoblit has deliberately sought them out. There's even a replica of the iconic shot of Lecter peering out between cell bars. Gosling's arrival centre stage courtesy of his powerful work in Half Nelson is substantiated here. He possesses a boyish look that can switch from lost to withering in a blink of one of his deep, narrow-set eyes. He brings a quiet intensity to Beechum that makes him a worthy adversary of the searingly intelligent Crawford.
Crawford is a successful structural engineer with a stunning home and beautiful, but unfaithful, wife (Embeth Davidtz). He shoots her, putting her in a coma, and confesses to the arresting officer Nunnally (Billy Burke). It appears an open and shut case for the DA's office, so Beechum agrees to take it as his final assignment before leaving for a prestigious job with a corporate law firm and beautiful boss, Nikki Gardner (Rosamund Pike). But when it's revealed Nunnally was the one having an affair with Crawford's wife, Beechum realizes Crawford has set him up, putting his whole career in jeopardy.
"I'm not going to play games with you," Beechum tells Crawford."I'm afraid you're going to have to," smirks Crawford, who enjoys taunting his young adversary. For Beechum, it becomes a personal issue, one that he pleads with his boss (David Strathairn) to allow him to see through.
Daniel Pyne and Glenn Gers script follows a conventional journey, with the requisite number of twists thrown in in an effort to keep the modestly paced story from stalling. The plot wouldn't hold up under much scrutiny, but as it's secondary to the combative exchange between Crawford and Beechum, its flaws are less critical. Derivative it may be, but even though Fracture lacks an original bone in its body, in Hopkins and Gosling, it has two good reasons to overlook such shortcomings.
Kevin Murphy
