CODY CLARK - Daily Herald | Posted: Wednesday, April 18, 2007 11:00 pm
Memo to Anthony Hopkins: You already got an Oscar for playing brilliant, demented criminal mastermind Hannibal Lecter. And you already played him two more times after that. Move on, dude.
The job that Hopkins does in "Fracture" playing a brilliant, demented aeronautical engineer -- who shoots his two-timing wife in the head and then defends himself at his subsequent trial for attempted murder -- is suitable to the movie's purposes. It's not a bad performance, exactly. More like a rented one.
Ted Crawford (Hopkins) is found at the scene of the shooting with a gun in his hand, so putting him away seems like a slam dunk. The DA's office doesn't even send a regular employee to Ted's pretrial hearing.
That errand, instead, is quite casually undertaken by hotshot prosecutor Willy Beachum (Ryan Gosling), who's already accepted a job at a high-powered private firm and is a day or so away from clearing out his desk. Following a coffee mishap, Willy goes to the hearing in the tuxedo he'll be wearing at a high society appearance mandated by his new employers later that same day.
The tuxedo catches Ted's eye, and also sets up one of the better wisecracks in the film, when Willy protests that Ted, by waiving his right to counsel, is abusing the judicial system. The presiding judge replies, "I appreciate your concern for the dignity of the court, double-oh-seven."
Spying his mark, Ted subtly goads Willy into prosecuting him. Each man assumes that he is the playful cat to the other's trembling mouse, Ted on account of his careful planning, and Willy out of sheer hubris. Oops -- hope I didn't give anything away there.
In addition to Hopkins's serviceable turn, the movie benefits hugely from Gosling's extraordinary one -- the young star's cock-of-the-walk swagger is a thing of beauty. Peripherally involved, but adding tight, professional work are David Straithairn and Rosamund Pike as Willy's old and new bosses, and Cliff Curtis and Billy Burke as cops involved in Ted's case.
Director Gregory Hoblit has capably negotiated similar territory before, most notably in the legal thriller "Primal Fear" -- he supplies a crisp pace while keeping all of the important story details in focus. And the movie's look is a razor sharp blend of sun-drenched cinematography and expert use of locations in and around Los Angeles.
"Fracture" eventually loses steam because we too strongly suspect -- correctly, I might add -- how its two biggest twists must play out. Ted's method is also replete with logical fallacies too large to entirely overlook. His whole elaborate game, for example, completely depends on knowing exactly which officer the LAPD would typically send to investigate an incident at his home, then on that one officer's actually being the guy who shows up.
Nobody's going to pass judgment on the facts in evidence as constituting a courtroom classic, but I wouldn't rule out Hoblit's film as a stylish weekend time-waster.