Fracture is a strange film to review as it isn't a bad film, but it isn't a great film either, yet it is watchable....just. The main problem was the story trying to be too clever for its own good which, although it does achieve some mystery with it, it doesn't quite work in the way you would expect. If you are making a murder mystery/court based drama you really need to do your research and make sure the script is water tight, this film never fully manages to achieve this and this is one of the areas where you are let down the most. After watching the film I was left with questions which really should have answered in the film and therefore left pot holes in the story. For example if Hopkins character was up for murder and he was proved not guilty of that, why did it not get mentioned how his wife did die as surely that would be a key argument for the prosecution.

Another problem is with Anthony Hopkins himself who really should have played the character better. At times his… more »

Fracture is a strange film to review as it isn't a bad film, but it isn't a great film either, yet it is watchable....just. The main problem was the story trying to be too clever for its own good which, although it does achieve some mystery with it, it doesn't quite work in the way you would expect. If you are making a murder mystery/court based drama you really need to do your research and make sure the script is water tight, this film never fully manages to achieve this and this is one of the areas where you are let down the most. After watching the film I was left with questions which really should have answered in the film and therefore left pot holes in the story. For example if Hopkins character was up for murder and he was proved not guilty of that, why did it not get mentioned how his wife did die as surely that would be a key argument for the prosecution.

Another problem is with Anthony Hopkins himself who really should have played the character better. At times his character is embarrassing to watch (just see any of the court scenes) and he insists on calling Ryan Goslings character 'old sport' which gets a bit annoying after a while. But the biggest problem comes with Hopkins accent which seems to change like the wind. It was only half way through the film he suddenly became Irish and then he went back to normal, then back to Irish.

Apart from the plot holes mentioned earlier the rest of the story is OK but doesn't really dazzle. It is rather frustrating to watch as you want to like the film and understand what it is trying to do but it never grabs you into thinking it is the greatest court based drama you've ever seen. It had some good ideas but never seems to get the best out of those ideas.

The most notable thing of the film is Ryan Gosling who played his character well giving him a boyish charm and a cocky attitude which was both fitting to the character and gave the film a great deal of mirth in an otherwise dreary subject. Though you could tell how the story would ultimately end up he is engaging enough to at least make it interesting.

Not a film I would recommend if you want to watch a thinker, but if you just want a bit of mild entertainment on a Friday night for example, it will do just that.