A few years ago there was a movie called The Score that brought together what is arguably the three finest actors of their generations: Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro and Edward Norton. The Score wasn't a perfect movie, but to be able to see these exceptional thespians interact was beyond the price of admission in terms of worth. A similar thought occurred to me as I watched Fracture; seeing Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling go at each other on opposite sides of a judicial proceeding was great to watch, but the movie that contains it is far from perfection.



Gosling is ADA Willie Beachum, a smooth talking rising star on the fast track to corporate law, he just has one final case that stands between him and that brass ring. The crime is attempted murder; the suspect is rich and famous airplane engineer Ted Crawford (Hopkins). With a signed confession and the supposed murder weapon in custody, it seems that the case is open and shut for Willie, who has one foot out the door as it is. But while it appears that Ted is not entirely all there, he's actually playing his cards pretty close to the chest. First he elects to represent himself in trial and then he waits patiently for his time to strike.



The truth of the matter is that the crime and its resolution are inconsequential and beside the point, as I had figured out what was going on about an hour and a half (movie time) before Willie and the cops. The real gift of this movie is watching Gosling and Hopkins match wits. Hopkins can do intellectual evil in his sleep, no question, and if he were matched against an actor of lesser calibre than Gosling, then as the dominant personality, he would have been overpowering. Gosling though proves a match, and not by playing intellectual against Hopkins but by being more driven, a man desperate to prove that circumstances don't rule him even as they spin out of control. The film basically deals with Willie's entitlement, and what he learns is that the real challenge is not being a consistent winner by short-cutting and pawning off tougher cases to other colleagues, but taking it one case at a time and putting the bad guys in their place. A schmaltzy lesson, I know, but with so many young people now walking through life with dollar signs in their eyes, it's still an important one.



Fracture is great to watch, but one need not be a legal eagle to prognosticate the eventual outcome for all involved, and you need not be Sherlock Holmes to unlock the mystery and figure out what went where. Director Gregory Hoblit keeps things tight and moves the action along well, while not confining Willie and Crawford's dual to the courtroom. While Fracture is far from the elaborate cat and mouse games of the average episode of Law & Order, it is nonetheless a satisfying showdown between actors who are on top of their game and brought it to the set daily.