Guest Review: Fracture (2007)

By Tennessee Jed

Courtroom drama is well-trodden territory in Hollywood. But there’s always room for something new. Fracture, directed by veteran Gregory Hoblit (Primal Fear), offers something new. Indeed, this stylized thriller has crafted a very different approach to the standard “guilty or not” formula as, almost at the outset, we view the commission of the crime itself, an attempted murder with all its particulars, and the would be murderer even willingly and immediately confesses his crime. But all is not as it seems and an apparent “open and shut case” becomes riddled with holes and legal traps, setting up a test of wits between the two main characters. In fact, the movie’s tag line is “I shot my wife. . . Prove it.”

** spoiler alert**

The Plot - Fracture stars Sir Anthony Hopkins (Silence of the Lambs) as Ted Crawford, the owner of a small aeronautical engineering firm who displays an engineer’s precise intellect, along with the ego of a highly successful businessman. Jennifer Crawford (Embeth Davidtz) is his younger, “trophy” wife. As the film opens, she is seen in romantic interlude with a man. It turns out to be an affair of which Ted has apparently been aware, as he leaves work and spies on them romping in a hotel pool. Later, after she arrives home, he first confronts her, then shoots her point blank in the face. The sound of gunfire alerts the gardeners to potential violence, and police, including a hostage negotiator, are promptly dispatched to the home. We at once recognize the negotiator, Lt. Rob Nunnelly (Billy Burke), as the man in the pool with Jennifer. Ted allows only Nunnelly into the house and only after both agree to discard their pistols. When Ted permits him to view the victim lying in a pool of her own blood, the negotiator is understandably shocked to find it is his lover. Ted taunts Nunnelly who subsequently attacks and subdues him as a SWAT team rushes in.

The case is assigned to D.D.A. Willie Beachum (Ryan Gosling), a rising if arrogant star within the department, who boasts a 97% conviction rate (padded by his propensity to trade off losing cases.) He has just announced his acceptance of a lucrative offer from a highly regarded corporate firm, but agrees to handle what he sees as one last easy win, particularly when Crawford demands to represent himself.

At trial, Willie is ambushed as Nunnelly admits his affair with the victim. When the judge realizes he had attacked Ted at the house, and sat in on his questioning, the confession gets tossed. Combined with the fact Ted’s gun has not been fired (i.e. there is no murder weapon), Willie realizes he has more than he bargained for from an opponent who, though not an attorney, is a cunning, skilled adversary.

Other cast members include veteran David Strathairn (Eight Men Out, Good Night & Good Luck) as D.A. Joe Lobruto, and former Bond girl Rosamund Pike (The World Is Not Enough) as Nikki Gardner, Willie’s future private sector boss and romantic interest. Bob Gunton (The Shawshank Redemption) plays Nikki’s father, respected judge Frank Gardner while Cliff Curtis plays Willie’s friend, lead investigator Detective Flores.

What Works - The acting skills, particularly of the two leads, results in an above average product. Hopkins again plays himself; the elderly, soft spoken, easy to underestimate character from films such as The Edge or World’s Fastest Indian. His skill in this role allows you to not only buy into the character, but also to see the transition from a slightly sympathetic cuckold, to a cunning, mean-spirited, haughty individual the audience wants to see taken down.

I had not been aware of Ryan Gosling prior to this film, although he already had a critically acclaimed performance in Half Nelson under his belt. He was totally engaging in the role of Willie. Even though the character is a bit full of himself, Gosling makes him likable enough that the audience can still easily root for him. It is not without irony that he earlier played a role similar to a young version of Ted Crawford in the film Murder By Numbers. Pike is actually well cast, convincingly portraying a shallow, stereotype (no easy task.)

The director, no stranger to courtroom drama himself, does a nice job of framing and lighting scenes. Although a few “dramatic” camera angles are easily recognized as such, it is not enough to distract. Pacing is more than adequate and one never feels the story line dragging. With a little willing suspension of belief, viewers can still reasonably buy into the story, investing enough in the characters to care about the ultimate outcome of their struggle. Although the theme of two talented adversaries, each flawed and brought down by their own hubris is hardly subtle, it does provide the necessary underpinning to the story.

What Doesn’t Work - As the plot unfolds, there is much that is, at minimum, unlikely. Indeed, Writer Daniel Pyne’s (Pacific Heights, Any Given Sunday) plot stretches the boundaries of plausibility at times. The likelihood of Ted being able to predict Nunnelly’s subsequent actions to the extent he apparently does is pure Hollywood. We are never shown how Ted obtained the hotel room key. The fact Willie immediately beds his prospective boss is almost “Bond like” in its absurdity, ultimately reducing Nikki to a caricature of some evil corporate temptress. Certainly, the secondary message of redemption through the goodness of public service compared to the shallowness of corporate greed is at once as hackneyed as it is obvious. Also, the film resorts to a rather clichéd dramatic device to seal the outcome, but despite these not insignificant flaws, I still found it to be highly entertaining if one takes it at face value for just that purpose.

The Verdict - Finally, while some may claim to see the outcome early on, I must confess I did not. For me, the writer did a convincing job of disguising both his “tells,” and the final resolution. Interestingly, because of the “dueling hubris” angle, the story could actually work with either character the victor, which helps keep the viewer guessing. If one can accept the notion of this movie as simply a good old fashion “will he get away with it” drama that is raised up a notch by seasoned Hollywood professionals, then Fracture is a nice way to spend a couple of hours. Perhaps this review will also provide good opportunity for you to state some of your best and least liked courtroom dramas.