Fracture

Distinctly uneven yet essentially entertaining, Fracture casts Ryan Gosling as Willy Beachum – a hotshot public defender whose latest case, involving the murder of a wealthy young women (Embeth Davidtz) by her older husband (Anthony Hopkins’ Ted Crawford), threatens to make or break his career. Despite outward appearances, Fracture isn’t quite the fast-paced legal thriller that one might have expected from the film’s promotional materials (there is, in fact, only one courtroom sequence of any real significance); screenwriters Daniel Pyne and Glenn Gers have instead crafted a story that generally has the feel of a low-key drama – with Gosling’s character ultimately forced to choose between his ambition and his morals. And while the game of cat-and-mouse that ensues between Willy and Ted is certainly as compelling as one might’ve hoped, the film suffers from a midsection that’s just a little too leisurely for its own good – something that’s due primarily to the inclusion of a fairly tedious subplot revolving around Willy’s relationship with his new boss (Rosamund Pike’s Nikki Gardner). Still, both Gosling and Hopkins are superb – Gosling is particularly strong here, while Hopkins does a chilling job of stepping into the shoes of this Hannibal Lecter-esque figure (his questionable Scottish/Irish accent notwithstanding) – and there’s little doubt that the film generally remains an engaging (if somewhat bloated) piece of work.

**1/2 out of ****