“Fracture” is a movie worthy of the title of being called a good thriller.
The movie revolves around Ted Crawford, played by Anthony Hopkins, who has it all. He’s a genius businessman, who owns an aircraft company and has a beautiful trophy wife. However, his perfect life is shattered by the discovery that his wife is unfaithful. Instead of confronting his cheating wife, Ted Crawford waits patiently for the right moment to kill his wife.
Crawford’s actions provide the central mystery of the movie – the fact that he will possibly get away with the murder of his wife. However, a young Los Angeles prosecutor, with a nearly perfect conviction rate named Willy Beachum, played by Ryan Gosling, puts everything he has on the line to stop him.
The movie encompasses plenty of classic themes such as ego, pride, arrogance and redemption.
At one point, a character faces a moral dilemma of significant proportion.
The title of the movie refers to a scene in the movie when Hopkins tells Gosling a story about sorting eggs on a farm when he was a boy. In the story, 300 eggs that all had minute cracks or imperfections, or fractures, are put aside. 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.
Throughout the movie, one of the main questions is the location of the murder weapon. Crawford’s plan is revealed little by little as he keeps the audience guessing even at the very start of the movie. And as you watch the movie you will come to admire Crawford, if not sympathize with him. He has, after all, been betrayed by his wife. His method of revenge is extreme but effective, and in the end you won’t be sure if you want the hero or the villain to come out on top.
Anthony Hopkins is one major reason this movie works.
Playing such devious roles prior to his role in “Fracture,” such as Hannibal Lector, gives the actor similar ground that he can create a psychotic genius and makes the character a formidable presence.
But don’t go into the movie assuming Hopkins is the lead, because you would be proven very wrong. His presence is as much a secondary character as it was in his prior suspense
thrillers, such as “Silence of the Lambs.” Though even with the limited screen time he has, he still achieves the intensity and wit of a clever psychotic that he is able to naturally deliver.
You will also watch Ryan Gosling’s character go through a transformation during the movie as well. In the beginning he plays his character with great charm and cockiness that always has him smiling. But as Hopkins starts to get under his skin, his personality and ego change.
The chemistry between Gosling and Hopkins creates a good legal thriller from the director Gregory Hoblit, who is no stranger to creating legal thrillers, as he is also responsible for the 1996 film “Primal Fear,” starring Richard Gere and Edward Norton. Much like his prior work on “Primal Fear,” Hoblit goes for something more cold and sinister rather than melodramatic.
The ending is anti-climactic, and it might leave some members of the audience feeling unsatisfied. But considering how well most of the story unfolds, perhaps it’s better than attempting a sensationalistic approach.
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