SummaryWhen a meticulous structural engineer (Anthony Hopkins) is found innocent of the attempted murder of his wife (Embeth Davidtz), the young district attorney (Ryan Gosling) who is prosecuting him becomes a crusader for justice. Fracture is packed with twists and turns that weave in and out of the courtroom as the pair try to outwit each ot...
SummaryWhen a meticulous structural engineer (Anthony Hopkins) is found innocent of the attempted murder of his wife (Embeth Davidtz), the young district attorney (Ryan Gosling) who is prosecuting him becomes a crusader for justice. Fracture is packed with twists and turns that weave in and out of the courtroom as the pair try to outwit each ot...
The plot's many complications pretty much all add up, which is a rarity these days for a murder mystery. It's possible that audiences don't even care anymore if a film makes sense as long it's entertaining.
Anthony and Ryan are both perfect for there roles, and work very well together. I was really surprised at how great this movie was. The first scene of the movie shows Anthony murdering his wife but the real drive of the movie is how Ryan is going to implicate Anthony for the crime, intense and humorous at times and never dull.
The chief pleasure in the picture (set in Los Angeles) is in watching Hopkins spin off another of his nutty self-possessed intellectual criminals--this time it's Hannibal Lecter lite.
Anyone who can credibly threaten to steal a movie from Anthony Hopkins has seriously got it going on. Fracture may be remembered as the movie that brought Ryan Gosling into the mainstream.
never less than a "check"..
Fracture Fracture is a plot driven courtroom drama among a lawyer at its prime prosecuting an already confessed guilty who now is defending his case with no whatsoever experience. It is surprisingly hilarious with much more mature humor installed in with suave note that it never seems forced and cheeky. The narration is fast paced with tightly packed screenplay that is gripping if not layered and thoroughly entertaining for its runtime. Amidst all these highly pitched dramatic sequences it fails to draw out the emotions especially concerning the relations and chemistry since the frustration and the irritation described and portrayed for the protagonist communicates clearly. The background score is exhilarating if not scored extraordinarily and along with decent cinematography and fine editing, the boat floats safely on technical aspects. Gosling is vulnerable but still resists it on each frame against the master Hopkins whose reputation is justified in here with a cunning script and slick chess moves that were never less than a "check". The script aces on enfolding newer territories and bold turns and choices that it makes which is not only to bedazzle the viewers but also justifies it considering each perspective. Hoblit's execution might be decent and palpable to its tone but what stands out in here, is the world created by him that feeds itself on nothing but nature and that is something which doesn't come often. The only thing that itches throughout the course is the procedure through which the makers either rush up or skips few beats. The gripping screenplay, the enthralling high stakes through which it conveys its subject and Gosling's stellar performances are the high points of the feature. Fracture not only breaks but **** expectations that results into never wearing off euphoric energy for the viewers, actors and makers.
Amidst the hay-days of the murder mystery genre, Fracture is refreshing. Anthony Hopkins may lean on Hannibal Lector for influence but he and Ryan Gosling are a surprisingly great match.
Film procédurier typique avec rebondissement in extremis téléphoné à la clé et une fin qui ne me plaît guère, pour ne pas dire pas du tout... Le film souffre également de longueurs et le rôle de Rosamund ne sert strictement à rien, même si elle est belle, bien coiffée, bien fardée et prête pour son défilé de mode...
Ce qui est plus intéressant réside dans le face-à-face entre Ryan et Anthony avec mention très spéciale pour le vieux, sardonique et machiavélique à souhait... c'est tout-à-fait le genre de méchant monsieur qu'on applaudit à tout rompre pour son charisme et son intelligence, à la manière peut-être d'un certain Monsieur Lecter d'ailleurs.
Mais la morale hollywoodienne vient à la rescousse avec son vice rebondissant de procédure, peu vraisemblable et tiré par les cheveux. Mais cela dit, si on entre dans les détails, ce genre de polar démonstratif ne tient pas debout deux secondes...
Une idée néanmoins intéressante sur le papier et un Sieur Anthony qui nous fait jubiler et ricaner en même temps... mais l'exécution (si je puis dire) est ici beaucoup trop à la masse avec la fin pourrie directement sortie du Kinder Surprise.
Crime dramas like these, which only exist to keep you guessing until the end about the criminal mastermind's seemingly perfect crime, sort of have to make sense for that idea to work. Fracture doesn't fulfill that criteria. The legal proceedings are riddled with creative liberties, making the entire thing a fiasco. The ending turns out to be laughably stupid, and the bad guy is predictably caught doing something insanely dumb...except what he's doing wouldn't actually be a retrial for a separate crime as it is in the film, since he didn't murder his wife, they pulled the plug on her in the hospital. His attempted murder charge still stands, but murder does not, and that's sort of a ridiculous way to catch him at the end. Also, since when do criminal masterminds openly brag to others about getting away with attempted murder all by themselves? Did it not occur to this guy that someone else might possibly be listening in somewhere? You're only talking to the goddamned prosecutor that will do anything to take you down, and you're openly admitting as loud as possible that you shot your wife and then got away with it? The "twist" as to why there's no evidence is also just stupid. It's circumstantial evidence and would never hold up in court, as it's nothing more than a theory by the prosecution that can't possibly be proven. All the bad guy has to do is deny it, and that's the end of it, since there's no evidence linking the events together, which was sort of the whole goddamned point of his plan. That's not evidence. If the bad guy had just said, "Get out" once he saw this prosecutor enter the premises, he would have gotten away with everything. Instead, he takes the opportunity to laugh and gloat about his perfect murder. And then, look at that, no one saw this coming: People are listening outside. Oops! Must've forgotten to read about how many criminals get caught by bragging about it in local bars. None of the characters besides Hopkins are the slightest bit interesting, so any time he's not on screen, we're just waiting for him to turn the tables on the prosecutor again, due to the prosecution's seemingly impossible stupidity. The rest of the plot seemed like it was just filler. With an ending and a twist this bad, not to mention one that doesn't make any sense, with a legal rule that's badly misinterpreted and totally bogus to finally catch the bad guy, the film just has no excuse.