Review by Diane Matson

FRACTURE - 2007 Lion's Gate Rated: USA: R

See “Mr. Smith” and “Mrs. Smith” having an affair.
See Mrs. Smith’s husband observing them with care.
Watch the husband shoot the wife, and then confess the deed.
The gun was there, but now nowhere.
“Not guilty” he doth plead.

Which really puts the prosecuting attorney (Ryan Gosling: FRANKENSTEIN AND ME, STAY), Willy Beachum's neck in a noose, especially after the original signed confession is no good, and once defendant Ted Crawford (Anthony Hopkins: THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, Bram Stoker's DRACULA, HANNIBAL, RED DRAGON) points out that the DA was fucking his wife (Embeth Davidtz: ARMY OF DARKNESS).

I spent the whole movie trying to figure out where the weapon was, while waiting for the bad guy to go down, even as I was enjoying every delicious minute of this movie.

It’s a brilliantly written film, with fascinating dialogue - especially when Crawford (Hopkins plays the smart, charming, evil man you enjoy watching, even while wishing all sorts of painful torture upon him), and Beachum (a prosecuting attorney who hates to lose, and has a track record to prove it) match wits, psychology, and manners against each other.

In addition, Ryan had a wonderful Southern drawl, which added to the wit and polite charm of his character. It played beautifully against Anthony’s British accent.

Imagine 2 sharks, circling each other, smiling, while their eyes reveal how badly they are trying to take the other down.

I wanted "Hannibal Lecter" to win. I can’t imagine anyone will feel the same about Ted. Wonderful to watch, even as you tear out your hair and wonder where the hell the murder weapon went.

Gregory Hoblit directed the film. I wonder what else he did? Hm….Some ”LA Law” and “Hill Street Blues” (makes sense). Ah! “Frequency”. That makes sense. He really knows how to marry heart and soul to wit and tension. And look! Both “Frequency” and “Fracture” were edited by David Rosenbloom. What a great team! More please!

Of course, without the brilliant writing to start everything off, none of this would have been possible. Sheer, creative genius of a plot, wonderful characters, yummy lines. Would Mr. Daniel Payne (THE SUM OF ALL FEARS) and Mr. Glenn Gers please write me something equally yummy?

Haunting, twisting, windy music, featuring strings, composed by the brother duo Jeff and Mychael Danna. I could go on and on about the crew, who did their brilliant thing so well. Everyone contributes in subtle ways to the mood and movement of the film. But this is a review, not a book, so I’ll end with this:

5 Shriek Girls

This review copyright 2008 E.C.McMullen Jr.

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