Fracture

Review in a Hurry:  Tightly scripted, good old-fashioned crime drama pitting two of our finest actors against each other in the courtroom. Not one computer effect or clichéd one-liner to be found. This is a movie that plays with the idea of noir and really delivers for mystery buffs.

The Bigger Picture:  There are no explosions in Fracture. No car chases, no gore—just this weird little thing that permeates the whole affair: a story.

Rapier-wit dialogue, fleshed-out characters and elegant direction enhance this expertly crafted tale, and the result is a legal thriller that is deceptively nonchalant. At first, the characters toy with each other almost lazily, but beneath the surface is a tightly wound plot that stays one step ahead of everyone.

Ted Crawford (Anthony Hopkins) is a wealthy Los Angeleno who freely confesses to shooting his wife after discovering her love affair with another man. Über-arrogant ace prosecutor William "Willy" Beachum (Ryan Gosling) is about to jump ship to the glittering rat race of corporate law when he is assigned to Ted's case. Naturally, Willy thinks the case is a slam dunk and is already picking out swatches for his new office at Evil, Evil and Evil, Esq. when Ted pulls a really big trick out of his exceedingly clever sleeve. And from there, it's on—oh, it's so on!

Hopkins and Gosling relish their adversarial roles, chewing up and spitting out some great mano a mano dialogue. Their sparring gets more intense with each new piece of evidence, each wrinkle in the law that exposes the ugly ambitions that motivate both men.

Instead of distracting from their brutal conflict with showy moves and obvious choices, director Gregory Hoblit (appropriately enough a vet of NYPD Blue and L.A. Law) underscores the tension by giving Los Angeles a gothic creepiness with his spare camerawork and cool cinematography. Finally, a big-budget director who understands that less truly is more.

Not just a great mystery, Fracture is also a fine example of damn good moviemaking.

The 180—a Second Opinion:  During a major lull toward the end, police procedural junkies might have enough spare time to sniff out the big mama of a plot twist before Ryan Gosling does.