When Grisham was king of the novel-to-movie adaptation, a title stolen briefly from the hands of Stephen King, law dramas would hit theaters every year and would consistently entertain. As the Hollywood system is wont to do, the introduction of Grisham-films to the theatrical sphere spurred a mass exodus of other legal dramas from the page to the screen. But then there was a lull. It seemed for quite a while that stories about court cases were best shown on television – or maybe it was that audiences were inundated with Law & Order spin-offs to the point that no one wanted to pay to see them in theaters – who knows. The point is, when Fracture rolled around in 2007 it actually seemed fresh. Absence truly does make the heart grow fonder.
But the heart is fickle; or rather, the heart isn’t so easily fooled by the peak-a-boo antics of a film genre. Even after staying in hiding for a near decade, the American audience won’t just wave in a new law drama without a discerning eye. To its credit, Fracture made it past the initial stages of suspicion thanks to its stalwart pedigree. Director Gregory Hoblit (Frequency, Primal Fear, Fallen, Untraceable) may not have a perfect directorial record when it comes to films, but the man has major records when it comes to directing legal suspense having directed copious episodes of NYPD Blue, L.A. Law and Hill Street Blues. Add into the mix two stellar actors - Anthony Hopkins, whose achievements make the man an acting legend, and Ryan Gosling, who’s proven himself one of the most promising actor’s of his generation – and suddenly Fracture looks like the perfect vehicle to kick start the legal procedural film trend anew.
Yet it didn’t – and there are two perfectly good explanations as to why. First and foremost the film isn’t all that gripping to start with. Sure, we’d all love to figure out how it is Ted Crawford (Hopkins) killed his wife (Embeth Davidtz) – but not at the cost of a plodding story which stretches out its overly confident twist to a breaking point. Hopkinz and Gosling entertain, but even they can’t undo the damage of the extra 20 minutes thrown in to demonstrate the cat and mouse concept every legal film thrills with. Willy Beachum (Gosling) could have been the most likeable lawyer to grace the silver screen in all of time, but it still wouldn’t have saved the plot from exhaustion; instead his likability just adds to the frustration of the audience as he seems to take his sweet time in getting to the film’s final twist. Quit rending your garments in despair and self pity and take the steps you’ll inevitably take to win the day – stop stalling. It’s the drawn out moments which take Fracture from a compelling legal drama to a ho-hum courtroom venture.
The final nail in the coffin of Fracture’s attempt to revitalize the dramatic legal film is the ending. It’s certainly a twist, and it’s certainly out there – but it won’t just be the lawyers in the room who know they just got cheated. After an entire film where Crawford plans each step with masterstrokes of legal cunning, to think that he’d get caught up on a technicality that no judge would approve in their right mind is almost an insulting finale to the otherwise faithful legal tale. It may have been long and overdrawn, but at least it didn’t sacrifice what little integrity it had on the legal front – until that ending. What a shame. The ending may irk me, but when the credits roll and the scenes have played out, Fracture remains a light and enjoyable legal film, even though you can’t take it took seriously lest the holes start opening up wide. Take the film in at a leisurely pace and halfhearted attention and you’ll enjoy it.
Fracture looks beautiful with all its low-lighting and gritty style. The high-definition gets to shine thanks to the cinematographic style of Fracture and it makes a high-def purchase of this film worth considering as opposed to just hoping for a minor upscale in quality from a DVD copy. It might not be a perfect fit for the HD treatment, but its style merits consideration – especially for fans of the film.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
It’s a barebones set unfortunately, and besides a few deleted scenes and theatrical trailer there are two alternate endings. Now, considering that one of the film’s largest detractors is its ending – the prospect of alternate endings goes a long way towards mending the film’s worth. I’d almost recommend stopping the movie with five minutes left on the clock and switching over to one of the alternate endings instead.
"Fracture" is on sale June 16, 2009 and is rated . Drama. Directed by Gregory Hoblit. Written by Daniel Pyne & Glenn Gers. Starring Anthony Hopkins, Billy Burke, Bob Gunton, Cliff Curtis, David Strathairn, Embeth Davidtz, Rosamund Pike, Ryan Gosling.
