Fracture: DVD, Blu-ray Movie Review (2009)

With the exception of its twisty ending, very little about Gregory Hoblit's courtroom suspense thriller is remarkable or reproachable.

Anthony Hopkins is sociopath Ted Crawford, a wealthy engineer who begins the movie with a taste for murder. Aware that his wife, Jennifer (Embeth Davidtz), is having an affair with Detective Rob Nunally (Billy Burke), Ted puts a bullet through her head--then several bullets through a few surrounding windows--and then he confesses to the shooting, which didn’t kill Jennifer, who now is in coma.

Enter Willy Beachum (Ryan Gosling), an ambitious young lawyer in the D.A.’s office who takes a case that leads to his gradual unraveling, with the slyly evil Crawford enjoying the implosion--at least until it starts to affect him.

Scenes between Hopkins and Gosling have a clipped edge that recall scenes between Hopkins and Jodie Foster in "Silence of the Lambs." But by courting comparisons, Hopkins’ performance becomes at once disappointingly self-referential and, curiously enough, the best part of the show.

Watching a first-rate actor like Hopkins do a second-rate riff on his most famous character can’t help but generate at least some energy and interest, which is the case here. It’s just a shame that it isn’t enough.

Rated R. Grade: C