Fracture

 

DIRECTED BY-: 
Gregory Hoblit

STARRING-: 

Anthony Hopkins 

Ryan Gosling

David Strathairn

YEAR OF RELEASE-:

2007

PREMISE-: 

An attorney intending on climbing the career ladder toward success finds an unlikely opponent in a manipulative criminal he is trying to prosecute.

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.

THE POSITIVES-:

• The first act of the film does a great job of hooking the viewer into the story.

• Anthony Hopkins gives an excellent performance, as always.

THE PROBLEMS-:

• Anthony Hopkins' character is the prime suspect in the attempted murder of his wife. Yet, he is never once brought to the stand or questioned.

• Rosamund pike was criminally underutilized in the story. 

• More often than not, Ryan Gosling was unable to command the screen presence that his character heavily required. 

• After a few initial highs, the film forgets to be a courtroom drama and starts behaving like a mystery thriller without having the mystery or the thrill. Past the 30-40 min mark, the script had very little to offer plot-wise. As a result, we are often shown unnecessary filler that constitutes forced romance, awkward dinner conversations, and scenes that come to an abrupt end.

• Even though there were very strong reasons for the indictment of the suspect, the reasons that the film gives for his acquittal were weak and relied on a major character making a massively stupid decision despite being a professional. 

• The final act of the film was very lethargic, exhaustive, and depended on a HUGE contrivance for the ultimate resolution to fall into place.   

RATING -: 4/10