“Fracture” (New Line Cinema)
Not As Great As It Should Be
Anthony Hopkins is one of the greatest actors we have today, and Ryan Gosling has been hailed as the best of the new young actors in Hollywood. So when they square off in a movie it is something to be seen, and that is what happens in the new thriller “Fracture.” This is a duel of acting titans and should be an event in moviemaking – but it isn’t. Somehow the momentum of their skills does not carry the movie to the heights but rather leaves it somewhere in the middle.
Hopkins plays Ted Crawford, a brilliant businessman who lives a life of wealth and splendor. He has a beautiful young wife named Jennifer (Embeth Davidtz) who is cheating on him, and he knows it. One night when she arrives home after being with her lover he shoots her in the head. The police are called and he is arrested for her attempted murder (she is not dead).
The open and shut case goes to Assistant DA Willie Beachum (Gosling). He is finishing up his duties as an ADA because he has been hired by a prestigious law firm. The prosecution of Crawford will be his last case as an ADA.
Crawford elects to serve as his own attorney and a strange case of maneuverings and actions begins. It seems the open and shut case is not as simple as it appeared to be. Willie finds himself frantically trying to hold a case together that is fractured in many, many ways
Hopkins and Gosling are good actors but they have both been better in other roles. Somehow they do not challenge each other as you thought they would. They perform adequately but not extraordinarily.
There is a silly subplot involving Willie and his new boss (Rosamund Pike). Their “love story” is told in bits and pieces and is never totally coherent. It could have been left out of the movie completely and would never have been missed.
David Strathairn is also underused in his role as the District Attorney. Strathairn is a brilliant actor but this role does not challenge him in the least. Embeth Davidtz makes the most of her small part and makes an impression.
The film is rated R for profanity and violence.
Ted Crawford could have and should have been as menacing as Hannibal Lecter, but he isn’t. Not by a long shot. Hopkins has the hooded eyes and the aloof delivery but that is all. The rotten soul of the man is never on view.
Gosling is neither charismatic nor particularly appealing in his role. The audience needs to be on his side from the start to the end and they aren’t. He is abrasive in certain scenes and not very likeable in others.
“Fracture is an okay film but it should have been a great one. Hopkins and Gosling are excellent actors but in this movie they just phoned it in.
I scored Fracture” a broken 5 out of 10.
