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Amazon.co.uk Review
Sir Anthony Hopkins trots out another psycho you'll hate to love in Fracture, a by-the-numbers legal thriller that's redeemed by electric performances from its two leads. Hopkins is on fine accent-bending, twinkle-eyed form as aeronautics engineer Ted Crawford, who has devised the perfect way to bump off his cheating wife. Ryan Gosling positively crackles as Willy Beachum, the cocky public prosecutor looking to add Crawford to his long list of successful convictions, before moving into the lucrative world of corporate law.
Despite the glossy look and audience-friendly pacing, it's Hopkins and Gosling's charisma-duelling that provides the film's biggest reward. Apart, they're enjoyable enough, but when they get together to butt intellects -- with Hopkins at his most impish -- things really come to life. Given that Crawford is a rich, sneering murderer and Beachum is a swaggering money-hungry upstart, you'd be forgiven for wondering why you should care at all. This is, after all, an alienating world of elite high-rollers. Not even Rosamund Pike, as Gosling's highly-strung legal eagle love interest elicits any sympathy. But Hopkins and Gosling imbue their characters with such undeniable charm that you could actually end up rooting for either. Without the chemistry, you'd be left with a clever, well-crafted but ultimately empty thriller. It hides its final twist well, but the true triumph is in the casting. --Luke Mawson
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
The strength of this film lies with Ted Crawford's (Hopkins) laid-back trivial manner. He sits doodling in court oblivious to what is being said, but it is all carefully calculated. The articulate engineer who calmly shot his wife and admitted it to the arresting officer, whilst with a gun in his hand and subsequently signs a written confession - is surely going down for the crime.
Willy Beachum, the confident and cocky attorney accepts the case after Ted asks for it to go straight to trial with no defence team required. He struts into court as if it's his territory - certain the trial will be over in minutes. It soon becomes apparent that Ted has a plan - he pleads `not guilty', through careful orchestration he ensures there is no evidence against himself. From the initial certainty he will go down for the murder of his wife, it looks as though he's going to get away with it.
You can see that he is revelling in the frustration of Beachum, he plays mind games - speaking in symbolic anecdotes. Parallels have been drawn to Hannibal Lector, and you can see why. For the start there's a feeling of calm genius at work, his composure his disturbingly unemotional and you sense his fun at toying with others.
The film needs a worthy Nemesis for Crawford - and Ryan Gosling is convincing as the `best in the business' young and talented attorney. The interactions between the two are darkly humorous and tense. It's these moments which provide the films best scenes.
In a nutshell: The film is very enjoyable, from the first few minutes I was drawn in by Hopkins' cool as a cucumber manner and felt a compulsion to watch in order to see if he would be brought to justice or not. The film doesn't necessarily stay with you much after you've seen it - but for the duration, it's magnetism will draw you in like an iron filling to a fridge magnet.
Willy Beachum, the confident and cocky attorney accepts the case after Ted asks for it to go straight to trial with no defence team required. He struts into court as if it's his territory - certain the trial will be over in minutes. It soon becomes apparent that Ted has a plan - he pleads `not guilty', through careful orchestration he ensures there is no evidence against himself. From the initial certainty he will go down for the murder of his wife, it looks as though he's going to get away with it.
You can see that he is revelling in the frustration of Beachum, he plays mind games - speaking in symbolic anecdotes. Parallels have been drawn to Hannibal Lector, and you can see why. For the start there's a feeling of calm genius at work, his composure his disturbingly unemotional and you sense his fun at toying with others.
The film needs a worthy Nemesis for Crawford - and Ryan Gosling is convincing as the `best in the business' young and talented attorney. The interactions between the two are darkly humorous and tense. It's these moments which provide the films best scenes.
In a nutshell: The film is very enjoyable, from the first few minutes I was drawn in by Hopkins' cool as a cucumber manner and felt a compulsion to watch in order to see if he would be brought to justice or not. The film doesn't necessarily stay with you much after you've seen it - but for the duration, it's magnetism will draw you in like an iron filling to a fridge magnet.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
There really is no accounting for taste. Because of the rather poor reviews generally here, I decided to leave this one alone, even though it sounded like my type of film. When it came down in price dramatically at the supermarket (apologies to Amazon) I decided to buy it anyway. And loved it.
Fair comment on Hopkins' varying accents (and it was annoying, especially towards the end) but altogether an excellent film. As Hopkins pits his wits against the brilliant but 'too clever for his own good' lawyer you find yourself rooting for Hopkins who is actually the bad guy. It's only when the film concludes that you realise you should never have been rooting for him in the first place. My advice is, if you like psychological thrillers, go for it.
Fair comment on Hopkins' varying accents (and it was annoying, especially towards the end) but altogether an excellent film. As Hopkins pits his wits against the brilliant but 'too clever for his own good' lawyer you find yourself rooting for Hopkins who is actually the bad guy. It's only when the film concludes that you realise you should never have been rooting for him in the first place. My advice is, if you like psychological thrillers, go for it.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is an enjoyable enough thriller - has that `seen it before' vibe, but raised above the level of the plethora of similar movies by its star performances and glossy veneer.
Plot wise, the obligatory twist in the standard murder investigation is that we see right off that Anthony Hopkins murders his wife. The rub comes, when he looks like he might get away with it, and the only thing between him and freedom is a young up-and-coming public prosecutor, played by Ryan Gosling. He is starting a new job for a new boss (Rosamund Pike, from Die Another Day - much sexier here) in a high profile corporate law firm. So for him it becomes a question of conscience - can he let the murderer go, so that he can move on with his new career, or will he jeapordise his new career to do whatever it takes to `bring him down'.
So things are set up less as a whodunit, but more as a Columbo episode format. We know he did it - but will the good guy figure it out? None of the scenes have too much in the way of surprises, and the twists are fairly well flagged. So what we are left with is a very glossy looking thriller with superior performances. Sure, Hopkins has had better moments, and could be accused of sleepwalking through the movie, but Hopkins on autopilot is still better than the rest of the pack. And the big surprise is Ryan Gosling - here, he puts in a memorable central performance. The movie hinges on our buying into this character, and Gosling pulls it off. It's Gosling that raises this to a 4 star movie.
It's clear the plot set up will never be entirely satisfactorily resolved, as evidenced by the two alternative endings where they played with how best to finish the story off. In the end, they chose the best option, even if it does feel somewhat anticlimactic. The other deleted scenes add little to proceedings.
All in all, despite a gnawing sense of familiarity, this works well, thanks in large part to the strong cast.
Plot wise, the obligatory twist in the standard murder investigation is that we see right off that Anthony Hopkins murders his wife. The rub comes, when he looks like he might get away with it, and the only thing between him and freedom is a young up-and-coming public prosecutor, played by Ryan Gosling. He is starting a new job for a new boss (Rosamund Pike, from Die Another Day - much sexier here) in a high profile corporate law firm. So for him it becomes a question of conscience - can he let the murderer go, so that he can move on with his new career, or will he jeapordise his new career to do whatever it takes to `bring him down'.
So things are set up less as a whodunit, but more as a Columbo episode format. We know he did it - but will the good guy figure it out? None of the scenes have too much in the way of surprises, and the twists are fairly well flagged. So what we are left with is a very glossy looking thriller with superior performances. Sure, Hopkins has had better moments, and could be accused of sleepwalking through the movie, but Hopkins on autopilot is still better than the rest of the pack. And the big surprise is Ryan Gosling - here, he puts in a memorable central performance. The movie hinges on our buying into this character, and Gosling pulls it off. It's Gosling that raises this to a 4 star movie.
It's clear the plot set up will never be entirely satisfactorily resolved, as evidenced by the two alternative endings where they played with how best to finish the story off. In the end, they chose the best option, even if it does feel somewhat anticlimactic. The other deleted scenes add little to proceedings.
All in all, despite a gnawing sense of familiarity, this works well, thanks in large part to the strong cast.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Cat and Mouse games
I watched FRACTURE (2007) for the second time today and was glad that I couldn't quite remember how it ended or the finer detail because all the tension of watching it the first... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Valerie J.
Suspensful and entertaining
I enjoyed this movie; it was a tense, character driven story with two excellent actors in the main roles. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Grace Rostoker
Why so few stars???
I'm stunned. Fracture is one of the best thrillers I've seen for years, and yet it seems to have attracted more than its fair share of critics. Read more
Published 16 months ago by BJB
purchase from US
i AM UNABLE TO REVIEW THIS ITEM AS BY MISTAKE IT WAS ORDERED FROM US AND CANNOT BE PLAYED ON MY DVD PLAYER.
Published on 28 Dec 2009 by Ms. M. Ross
DVD arrived scratched
The DVD arrived scratched, as part of the plastic box had broken off during shipment, and the loose piece of plastic was knocking around in the box. Read more
Published on 14 Nov 2009 by harold
Gripping thriller
Wonderful thriller with unexpected twists, though it wears out a bit towards the end and becomes predictable. Yet, that does not spoil an entertaining "mind-bender" of a story. Read more
Published on 4 Sep 2009 by F. L. P. Souza
loved it
What a film. Kept us on the edge of our seats until just before the end when everything dropped into place as before that the plot could have gone in any of many directions. Read more
Published on 29 Aug 2009 by Mrs. J. M. Mcdougall
FRACTURE
A great film that had me on the edge of my seat. We see Ted Crawford shoot his wife. He then confesses to the police. Read more
Published on 29 Jun 2009 by rickfieldmike
fracture
i was not very happy with this product as it was made for the u.s.a. and not playable in britain. this was not clearly marked at all.
Published on 12 Jun 2009 by Ms. J. K. Edwards
Fracture
I thought the film was brilliant and thoroughly enjoyed it. A very unexpected ending. So good, in fact, that I bought a copy for my daughter who also loves thrillers and mysteries. Read more
Published on 8 Jun 2009 by P. A. Benfield
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