Willy Beachum (Ryan Gosling) is a driven assistant district attorney who has a 97 per cent conviction rate. He is easily outraged about the many injustices in a world where people are filled with hate and anger and the lust for power. Yet another side of him has capitulated to the all-American dream of big money in the fast lane. He has just gotten a new job in a high-stakes corporate law firm. Chosen to guide him through the transition is Nikki Gardner (Rosamund Pike), a young woman who glides easily through this world of fabulous expense accounts and wealthy clients. Beachum is mesmerized by her beauty and self-assurance. She isn't sure that he has the right stuff for the firm.
Beachum's move to the new job is interrupted by a strange case that lands in his lap. Wealthy engineer and scientist Ted Crawford (Anthony Hopkins) has signed a confession in which he admits to having shot his wife Jennifer (Embeth Davidtz) in the head. What no one knows is that he discovered her affair with detective Rob Nunally (Billy Burke) and set in motion a dastardly scheme to get rid of them both. When Beachum goes to court, he learns that Crawford wants to represent himself in the case. Although the District Attorney (David Strathairn) gives his young hotshot assistant a chance to opt out of the case, Beachum decides to take it. Crawford toys with him by sharing the following story:
"I used to candle eggs at my grandfather's farm, hold an egg up to the light and look for imperfections. The first time I did it, he told me to put the ones that were cracked or flawed into a bucket for the bakery. He came back an hour later and there were 300 eggs in the bucket. I found a flaw in every single one. Thin places in the shell, the hairline cracks.
Look closely enough and you'll find everything has a weak spot where, sooner or later, it will break."
Gregory Hoblit directs this gripping thriller with a nuanced and sophisticated screenplay by Daniel Pyne and Glenn Gers. The cat-and-mouse game between the young DA and the wealthy gamesplayer creates the ample tension in the drama. What is at stake is the life of Jennifer who lies in the hospital in a coma.
Fracture brings into our consciousness the moral significance of two spiritual practices: being present and justice. Beachum squanders the first by viewing the Crawford case as a slam dunk. He is so caught up in the glitter of his new job that he makes some errors which paint him into a corner where all he can do is squirm and wiggle to get loose. The case draws out his rigorous sense of justice which is what made law attractive to him in the first place. He grows emotionally close to Jennifer and must decide whether or not he is willing to throw away his glamorous future for her.
Ryan Gosling, who was so impressive in his Academy Award-nominated performance in Half Nelson, puts in another Academy Award caliber performance in this film. Of course, his acting is given a boost by playing opposite Anthony Hopkins who creates an intense and complicated killer. Fracture, thanks to its character-driven narrative, is a thoroughly thought-provoking thriller with a moral underpinning.
Special DVD features include alternate scene endings and deleted scenes.
