Fracture
centers around Ted Crawford (Anthony Hopkins), a well-to-do man who kills his
cheating wife, and readily admits it to the responding police officer. Crawford
has his eyes on a bigger game, though, and mitigating circumstances, including
the lack of a matching weapon, give him several important trump cards when he decides to represent himself in court against hotshot
Angeles
Gosling).
friction, Fracture
is predicated
on a few significant leaps in believability, certainly (a murder case going to
trial in under two weeks, for one), but director Gregory Hoblit (NYPD Blue, Primal Fear) knows his way
around the criminal justice system.
of course, is reliably steady. Gosling, meanwhile, gives a great, engrossing
performance as the slick, narcissistic Willy — a blithe egotist with one foot
already out the door for a lucrative job at a private law firm. When he comes under
fire and suddenly finds an embarrassing blight on his near-perfect record, it
ignites in him a deep competitive instinct that Fracture, quite agreeably, never pawns off on a
reawakened idealism. Willy’s a bit of a jerk, actually, but never less
than fascinatingly watchable. For the full capsule review, from CityBeat, click here.