Only to watch it again a few years later and think, "what a load of nonsense!!" This is definitely one of those films. I'm almost starting to feel a bit sorry for Rosamund Pike cos I seem to be making a habit of giving low scores to films she's in. But then perhaps she likes being in films with plots that rely on seriously bad police work. And a bad apple that thinks they're way too clever. Did anyone else wonder exactly which accent Anthony Hopkins was meant to be using? Cos there was definitely some Scottish and Irish thrown in with the Welsh along the way. That was very distracting.Anyway, first time I saw it I thought it was a rather well put together stylish thriller. Second time around it just appears to be a complete slating on the inadequacies of a legal and justice system.Then again, perhaps I'll watch it again another day and the cops falling for the cons "cons" might all make sense. But somehow I doubt that very much. A clever thriller should really have at least one really sharp criminal. Not one that's so clever he gets away with it first time only to give the cops all the evidence they need to put him away for a bigger crime later on. And, ideally, cops who can figure out if the murder weapon isn't at the crime scene then they need to eliminate possibilities and do some proper detecting work. And a guy who works his way up to lieutenant has a) no idea on the identity of the woman he's having an affair with and b) manages to get his gun swapped twice in the same day?With some films, the deeper you look, the bigger the fractures. I think I've probably just talked myself out of giving it a third viewing.

Normally with over 300 reviews already for an older film, I wouldn't presume to add my lowly and wretched opinion which has likely already been very well covered by so many reviews.BUT... In this case, there is one VERY VERY important difference...And, that is as I stated in my Summary above. When I first saw this film, it was quite good for the most part, BUT the ending was so seriously stupid that I felt it ruined the movie. Obviously, I will not go into the details here, but after all these years I just now saw the Blu-ray version, and the way it ended was HUGELY better! Really... It honestly made all the difference.So, for that reason alone, I just had to come here and mention it. If you want to watch the film, PLEASE do make SURE to see the newer Blu- ray version of it, because it truly makes all the difference the way they have structured the ending. Interestingly, 2 'Alternate Endings' are included in the Blu-ray. I think that it was the 2nd one that I had seen when I first watched the film. When you see it, AFTER watching the newer version, I'm quite sure you will see what I mean.Otherwise, an excellent movie, particularly the lighting and photography. I really liked the soundtrack too. I think it is one of Gregory Hoblit's better films. Overall a pretty simple story, but one directed and acted very well.

(Originally reviewed: 29/03/2017) Just when I thought I had seen enough 'prove I did it' thriller's to last a lifetime, I came across this one starring Ryan Gosling and Anthony Hopkins, and it turned out as a good, well executed thriller, nothing more, nothing less. The plot is nothing special, it has a lot of simplicity, including average courtroom drama that never feels tense like other films that use this plot device, and offers little in terms of surprises, until the third act which is smart and most satisfying, but the middle act borders on being very slow and at times clichéd, so I think the picture is lucky enough to benefit from having two strong actors who keep the story fairly interesting and entertaining; those are Ryan Gosling who plays Willy Beachum, an overconfident, but likable prosecutor and Anthony Hopkins as a rich old guy who gets jealous of his younger wife' and her secret lover's affair by attempting to murder his wife.It starts off exceptionally well, with some really strong scenes, and some well written dialogue by Daniel Pyne, as well as a good sense of humour, which is sadly non-existent for most of the second half, but the first 45 minutes or so are well crafted, and purely entertaining. The Middle act however like I mentioned earlier suffers from abrupt pacing, predictability and clichés, a great film would not have a merely passable middle like 'Fracture does, and for it to continue being intriguing, it relies on its cast momentarily which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it show's weakness in the story which should be captivating.The Supporting performances are pretty good however, Rosamund Pike play's Nikki Gardner, a high up member at a law firm, and she is romantically involved with Gosling's character and they have some solid scenes together, there romance is rather good and never feels forced, also good is David Strathairn as the DA of the law firm and Billy Burke who play's L.T Rob Nunally, the detective who was secretly sleeping with Crawford's wife, but was unknowing that Jennifer's husband was indeed Ted Crawford, as he had never seen him before, nor did he know Jennifer's last name. Burke is very angry, during this, consistently gets violent toward Crawford, and loses his credibility with the force during a revelation in court, his performance here is very good, and I believed he was angry and loved Jennifer.Also featuring are Embeth Davidtz as Jennifer Crawford and Cliff Curtis as Detective Flores, Rob's partner, both are pretty good. Another positive is Hoblit's direction, it's never unfocused, and rather adequate, along with some good jokes, involving Gosling's character being dressed in a tuxedo in court, in which the judge says "Thank you 007", an amusing, well timed joke and a sequence where Gosling's character is walking around a party and heads to the bar, only he is spoken to by Pike's character who says "I've seen you walking around in circles, you're like a shark circling, if you stop, you die". A fairly funny line, and an equally well written piece of dialogue.There were a few flaws though, like a scene just after the opening that creates disbelief, within this scene Hopkins character walks into his house, whilst his wife is with another man out by the pool, and blatantly appears in plain sight, and yet neither of them notice him, something I find hard to believe considering they weren't exactly looking at the floor. Another is later on, a cliché of course, where the missing gun is found in an obvious place, like a locked draw, and you sit there thinking, the police never thought to check there? And during that moment predictability reared in its head, apparently Rob's gun was switched with Crawford's after he shot his wife, something I expected from the very start, I was just anticipating when they were going to showcase that moment, and there's a fair amount of these moments here, in other words there's clichés aplenty.However this is a good film, because the ending has sustainability and surprise, not the revelation before the end, but the very last five minutes or so where Hopkins character boasts about the 'Double Jeopardy' law, and thinks he's won, only Gosling, with a smug look on his face tells him, he was never tried for murder, only attempted, and that that law does not apply to attempted murder. then comes the knockout where Gosling says the only thing keeping you out of prison was the bullet stuck inside your wife's head, they could not get to it, while she was alive, so when you pulled the plug on her, you pretty much just handed us proof, and enough evidence to lock you up for what will now be seen as murder, and not attempted murder after your decision to pull the plug on her, Hopkins tells him to get the f**k out of his house, and upon leaving, the police have heard everything, and are waiting to collect Hopkins, which left me satisfied, as I was not predicting this impressive outcome, one that makes sense too, in a smart, innovative way. Fracture is a good, fairly competent thriller with strong performances and solid chemistry between its two leads, Gosling and Hopkins.

There is indeed an engaging air of mystery surrounding "Fracture" that will keep you watching/interested until the very end. Only helping matters is the star-studded cast. The problem that prevents "Fracture" from being a great film, however? It just ends up being too smart for it's own good.For a basic plot summary, "Fracture" sees Ted Crawford (Anthony Hopkins) kill his wife (who had been cheating on him) in a jealous rage. There is no doubt that he did the deed, and what with the signed confession and murder weapon in hand, it looks to be a slam-dunk case. Opposing Crawford in court is Willy Beachum (Ryan Gosling), a hot-shot young lawyer about to move on to bigger and better things. This final case will be his swan song as a public defender...until it proves to be much more difficult when Beachum finds that Crawford is a bit more savvy than he lets on.The reason I can call "Fracture" a good movie is because an air of mystery exists pretty much throughout. It seems straightforward, but of course one keeps waiting for the other shoe to drop. Hopkins is perfect as the debonair accused murderer, while Gosling also shines in his youthful role. The movie really starts out with a lot of energy and intrigue and seems to be set up for a remarkable conclusion.The problem, however, is that when that other "shoe" does drop, it lands with a resounding "thud". Clearly, "Fracture" was leading up to a climax that it could not possibly deliver, so instead it tries to fool the audience and ends up out-smarting itself.For example (MAJOR SPOILERS):-The notion of the cop's sworn statement being thrown out of court because he was the dead wife's lover is the first clue of what the ending is going to be. I'm not an ultra-realist when it comes to movies, but c'mon here...this is kind of idiocy.-So many minutes of the film are devoted to finding the real murder weapon, yet I was severely let down that it was truly resolved in a scene that the audience could never really see coming. Don't spend so much time on this single plot point and then cop out with what basically amounts to an "off-camera scene" being the answer.-Finally (and this is the big one), Crawford is eventually caught because apparently he doesn't understand a technicality involving the principle of double jeopardy. Really?! The entire movie sets Crawford up to be a genius, and this is his demise? Embarrassing.So, while "Fracture" did do a lot of things right in terms of mystery, pacing, and acting, it is such an intellectual letdown in the end that it only pulls in at "slightly above average". Perhaps more casual viewers, or those who take things a bit more at face-value, won't be bothered by some of the ridiculous developments in the film, but for those who really focus on character development and consistency it is extremely frustrating to have all the characters fall apart towards the end (at least in terms of how they acted for most of the film).