Fracture 3/5 review by Chris (Joe)
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Fracture
-In theaters starting Friday-
IMDB synopsis:
An assistant DA (Gosling) is caught up in a game of cat-and-mouse with a man (Hopkins) who tried to murder his wife and is set free on a series of technicalities
Chris’s review:
Let me first expand on the synopsis a bit:
A hotshot assistant DA (Gosling), 2 weeks from a new job in a high paying private firm, is caught up in a game of cat-and-mouse with a brilliant and wealthy entrepreneur (Hopkins) who shot his wife for cheating on him then turns himself in only to reveal a carefully laid plan that leaves the deck stacked in his favor to be acquitted.
This is a very solid thriller. Nothing spectacular by any means, but it sticks to the playbook and even gives you a few good bonuses to make it a little better than average.
One of those bonuses would be the great Sir Anthony Hopkins. Think Hannibal Lecter but with less creepy dialogue, more quite calculation, and a healthy handful of humor instead of seedy threats. Immediately and throughout the film I found myself pulling for his character, despite him being the “bad guy.” Part of it was his charm, and part of it is the fact that its Anthony Hopkins.
Gosling is good, but not great. I’m not sure that I care for that guy yet, I need to see more from him. Half Nelson sucked, so that didn’t help his case.
Another bonus that steps above the typical thriller playbook is the dialogue. There are quite a few well written moments that lead to chuckles throughout the movie. This seems to be a new trend in the thriller genre. I have to say that I really like it. The brief “real people” moments that lighten the mood seem to help keep the movie from getting sucked in to it’s own heavy subject matter too deeply. This script was well written and light on it’s feet, so we you never felt bogged down or bored.
When all is said and done the twist is probably predictable for most of our reading audience (as you are all certified geniuses), but it is still pulled off well and satisfactory. As I said before, this is a solid thriller. You probably won’t run out and buy it the day it comes out on DVD, but you won’t feel like you wasted your time if you do take the time to watch it.
Chris’s recommendations:
See this movie if…
-You like Anthony Hopkins, as we all should.
-You are a fan of a good old fashion murder mystery thriller.
-Your name is Pete. Anyone named Pete will like this movie. I know that is a bold claim, but I’m pretty sure you can’t prove me wrong.
Don’t see this movie if…
-You thought the end of the Matrix 2 was some of the most brilliant movie writing ever and that the Architect was the smartest man (or computer man) alive. If you go see this movie (or most other movies) that actually ARE NOT completely moronic, your poor little, stupid head may explode.
-Murder makes you sad. This movie is about a murder, so you will be sad.
-I really don’t have any real reasons as to why not to see this movie, as you can see. It’s good…so if you want to see a movie, try this one. Or don’t, no skin off my back, jerk.
Fracture
-In theaters starting Friday-
IMDB synopsis:
An assistant DA (Gosling) is caught up in a game of cat-and-mouse with a man (Hopkins) who tried to murder his wife and is set free on a series of technicalities
Chris’s review:
Let me first expand on the synopsis a bit:
A hotshot assistant DA (Gosling), 2 weeks from a new job in a high paying private firm, is caught up in a game of cat-and-mouse with a brilliant and wealthy entrepreneur (Hopkins) who shot his wife for cheating on him then turns himself in only to reveal a carefully laid plan that leaves the deck stacked in his favor to be acquitted.
This is a very solid thriller. Nothing spectacular by any means, but it sticks to the playbook and even gives you a few good bonuses to make it a little better than average.
One of those bonuses would be the great Sir Anthony Hopkins. Think Hannibal Lecter but with less creepy dialogue, more quite calculation, and a healthy handful of humor instead of seedy threats. Immediately and throughout the film I found myself pulling for his character, despite him being the “bad guy.” Part of it was his charm, and part of it is the fact that its Anthony Hopkins.
Gosling is good, but not great. I’m not sure that I care for that guy yet, I need to see more from him. Half Nelson sucked, so that didn’t help his case.
Another bonus that steps above the typical thriller playbook is the dialogue. There are quite a few well written moments that lead to chuckles throughout the movie. This seems to be a new trend in the thriller genre. I have to say that I really like it. The brief “real people” moments that lighten the mood seem to help keep the movie from getting sucked in to it’s own heavy subject matter too deeply. This script was well written and light on it’s feet, so we you never felt bogged down or bored.
When all is said and done the twist is probably predictable for most of our reading audience (as you are all certified geniuses), but it is still pulled off well and satisfactory. As I said before, this is a solid thriller. You probably won’t run out and buy it the day it comes out on DVD, but you won’t feel like you wasted your time if you do take the time to watch it.
Chris’s recommendations:
See this movie if…
-You like Anthony Hopkins, as we all should.
-You are a fan of a good old fashion murder mystery thriller.
-Your name is Pete. Anyone named Pete will like this movie. I know that is a bold claim, but I’m pretty sure you can’t prove me wrong.
Don’t see this movie if…
-You thought the end of the Matrix 2 was some of the most brilliant movie writing ever and that the Architect was the smartest man (or computer man) alive. If you go see this movie (or most other movies) that actually ARE NOT completely moronic, your poor little, stupid head may explode.
-Murder makes you sad. This movie is about a murder, so you will be sad.
-I really don’t have any real reasons as to why not to see this movie, as you can see. It’s good…so if you want to see a movie, try this one. Or don’t, no skin off my back, jerk.
posted by Joe Punchface at 8:17 AM
1 Comments:
man, just when I thought you grew some compassion and caring for your fellow movie-goers, you let fly with some more offensive matrix-smashing... although that movie does deserve to be smashed... wait I better be careful or I'll start to rant myself...
Nice review, this one sounds good, and I am a fan of the thriller genre. It's nice to see good writing starting to get back into hollywood.
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