FRACTURE: Cerebral Cinema
 An extremely wealthy man finds out his younger, quite attractive wife is having an affair. He confronts her about it approximately one minute before he shoots her in the face. Cops show up. The man confesses. It’s an open and shut case. Enter young, cocky lawyer who is about to leave the Los Angeles DA’s office to start life in the private sector. “Yeah sure, I’ll take this open and shut case as a last hurrah.” Too bad it’s not open and shut, and it’s miles away from a hurrah.
No, I’m not pitching an episode of LAW AND ORDER. That, boys and girls, is the plot line of FRACTURE, an engaging legal drama that does something most movies don’t dare to do these days—make the viewer think a little bit.
When I say legal drama, I mean drama. Not a thriller. Not an action movie. A straight up, bare knuckles, legal drama. This is not a bad thing
We all know that Anthony Hopkins is an exceptional actor. I had nightmares about fava beans for weeks after seeing SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. His turn as structural engineer Ted Crawford is almost as creepy--and definitely just as smart--as Hannibal Lector ever was. No one can top Hopkins when he turns on the sly creepiness. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end every time he gave a cocky wink to Ryan Gosling’s Willy Beachum.
Speaking of Gosling, he is a definite heavyweight in the acting ring. The kid has been blowing me away since I watched THE BELIEVER. (You haven’t seen it? Rent it now.) He knows how to get into a character and stay there. Never once did this Canadian let the Oklahoma Good Ol’ Boy character slip. His intensity will make you wonder why you haven’t seen him in more movies.
With all this acting goodness on the screen, I guess the studio or the producers or whoever puts together DVDs decided the movie could speak for itself. The only special features are theatrical trailers and deleted scenes which, in today’s world of interactive DVD-ROM trivia commentary
The deleted/alternate scenes look like the movie went through a few different versions before it made it to the general public. There’s a love scene, then an alternate to that love scene, as well as two alternate endings. Believe me, the one that made it in the final cut is the best of the bunch. I would’ve enjoyed some commentary from the director just to get a little insight on working with Hopkins and Gosling, but no such luck.
No matter, I still enjoyed FRACTURE. It’s not one for repeat viewing, although I do suggest at least one viewing so you can remember what it’s like to keep your brain functioning while watching a movie.
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