Fracture

Summer isn't here yet, but the summer movies are starting to arrive. Spiderman 3 will be the "official" start of the summer movie season next week, but a few decent movies have already appeared in theaters. I recently watched Fracture (Anthony Hopkins, Ryan Gosling), and since Ray has been asking me to start reviewing movies again, I figured I'd start with this one.

As of today, RottenTomatoes gives Fracture a 70%. I'd personally put it a bit higher (around 75%), primarily because I generally like courtroom dramas, because I like puzzle movies, and because I really like Anthony Hopkins. He doesn't break any new ground here. In fact he plays his character almost the same way he played Hannibal, but that didn't bother me in the slightest. It's enjoyable to watch Hopkins' character manipulate everyone else in the cast, despite their best efforts. But primarily I enjoyed Fracture because of the snappy dialog. I wish they'd included more scenes with Hopkins and Gosling together, because it was fun to follow their verbal sparring.

The plot does include a few holes, which is one reason I can't universally recommend it. People who go out of their way to poke plot holes (<cough>Coach</cough>) should probably avoid Fracture. But for the most part you won't see the implausibility of it until you're talking about the movie afterwards.

I also docked it a few points because it dropped in a few too many "Character Alignment Shifts". Those are the moments when a main character thinks about his/her life, realizes that he/she has been a complete jerk, and resolves to change. Most of the time, the C.A.S. is identified by a montage of contemplative scenes in which the character either:

a) stares off into space
b) walks alone down a dimly lit street (usually at night)
c) plays an instrument alone (usually a piano or a guitar), or
d) performs some routine mindless action (like taking out the garbage), followed by one or more of the above.

Fracture's C.A.S. was a bit too outlandish for me to believe. But I understand that's not the sort of thing that seems to bother most people (after all, believe it or not, there are some people who bought into the insanity of Lady in the Water).

If you like courtroom dramas or Anthony Hopkins, you'll probably like Fracture. But don't try to nit-pick it while you're in the theater. Save that for the drive home.