Fracture Puts It All Together

Anthony Hopkins gets back in touch with his inner Hannibal Lecter in “Fracture,” a new psychological thriller in which the veteran actor does what he does best, namely messing with the minds of the characters and the audience.

Hopkins plays Ted Crawford, a structural engineer who catches his beautiful wife Jennifer (Embeth Davidtz) in a compromising position with a handsome younger man named Rob Nunally (Billy Burke). Crawford confronts his wife at home and shots her at point-blank range in the head.

Though the gardeners working outside the house hear the shots, they aren’t sure exactly what’s happening inside and call the police. As officers from the L.A.P.D. surround the estate, a hostage negotiator is allowed inside, but, in a delicious bit of irony, this negotiator just happens to be the same Rob Nunally who was sleeping with Crawford’s wife.

When he sees Jennifer lying on the floor in a pool of blood, Nunally loses control of his emotions, disarms Crawford and starts beating him senseless until he’s restrained by other officers. Crawford goes peacefully to the police station and even signs a statement in which he confesses to the attempted murder.

Over at the District Attorney’s office, a young prosecutor named Willy Beachum (Ryan Gosling) is assigned to this case, but he’s too busy getting ready to move to a better-paying job at a prestigious private law firm. He doesn’t want to be bothered with another case, but Beachum’s boss (David Strathairn) sends him to court for Crawford’s arraignment.

With an admission of guilt and the murder weapon safely in the hands of the police, this looks like an open-and-shut case to Beachum, who only half pays attention to the proceedings, but Crawford, who decides to defend himself in court, pulls a few surprises out of his hat. Even with a 97% conviction rate, it’s highly possible that Beachum could lose this case and let a real murderer go free.

Though he doesn’t consume human flesh this time, Anthony Hopkins is at his evil best once again in “Fracture,” a film that truly keeps the audience guessing until the final credits start to roll.

As Ted Crawford, Hopkins beautifully plays the role of puppet master throughout the movie, making all the characters slaves to his whims, especially Ryan Gosling’s career-minded prosecutor. As he takes control of the courtroom proceedings with just a word or a gesture, Hopkins is a true joy to watch.

Coming off his Academy Award-nominated performance in “Half-Nelson,” Gosling is more than a match for Hopkins, slowly transforming from a backstabbing lawyer with dollar signs in his eyes to a decent man who wants to do the right thing. It’s only when Beachum grows a social conscience that he becomes a true threat to Crawford.

It would be interesting to see, though, if someone made a movie in which Ted Crawford and Hannibal Lecter faced off against each other in a battle of wits. Hopkins has crafted each character so carefully that it’s not clear who might win that duel.

“Fracture” is rated R for language and some violent content.

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