Friday, May 18, 2007

movie minute

Fraction Of A Movie: In the movie Fracture, Anthony Hopkins plays an aeronautical engineer; at least that's what I think he is, the movie is never really clear on exactly what he does. He's a brainiac at any rate and clever and sly. What he's not is fun which is what we think he might be in the opening scene as he handily slaps down an x-ray and zooms fast, fast away in his sports car. No, this Anthony Hopkins is not fun at all; in fact, he's downright depressing. Hopkins plays Ted Crawford, as I said before a sly brainiac who kills his wife after finding out she's cheating on him. But is he sly enough to get away with it?

The other main actor in this movie is Academy Award nominee Ryan Gosling, he plays Willy Beachum, a criminal prosecutor who almost never loses. When he takes on the case of Crawford, he's in trouble of losing big time. Beachum has just been offered a cushy job as a corporate lawyer and he's got his head in the clouds. Crawford likes Beachum and baits him to take the case and keep it till the end.

Tv and movie director Gregory Hoblit (Hart's War, Frequency, Primal Fear) goes part Hitchcock and part Silence Of The Lambs. Hopkins is quite obviously doing a variation on his Hannibal Lecter role. The crackle and sizzle that we should hear when Gosling and Hopkins are on the screen together comes out as more of a sputter. The movie tries to be suspensful and exciting but in almost every scene it's as if the life is being slowly sucked out; much like a small hole in a tire. I won't tell you how it ends but I will say the the ending is convoluted and thin and the two great actors (usually) don't build on their reputation in this film.

Bags of popcorn (out of 5): 2

peace,

paul

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