When Ted Crawford discovers that his beautiful younger wife, Jennifer, is having an affair, he plans her murder--the perfect murder. Among the cops arriving at the crime scene is hostage negotiator Detective Rob Nunally, the only officer permitted entry to the house. Surprisingly, Crawford readily admits to shooting his wife, but Nunally is too stunned to pay close attention when he recognizes his lover, whose true identity he never knew, lying on the floor in a pool of blood. Although Jennifer was shot at point blank range, Nunally realizes she isn't dead. Crawford is immediately arrested and arraigned after confessing--a seemingly slam-dunk case for hot shot assistant district attorney Willy Beachum, who has one foot out the door of the District Attorney's office on his way to a lucrative job in high-stakes corporate law. But nothing is as simple as it seems, including this case. Will the lure of power and a love affair with a sexy, ambitious attorney at his new firm overpower Willy's fierce drive to win, or worse, quash his code of ethics? In a tense duel of intellect and strategy, Crawford and Willy both learn that a "fracture" can be found in every ostensibly perfect façade. - skip ad - Genres: Drama, Thriller and Crime/Gangster Running Time: 1 hr. 52 min. Release Date: April 20th, 2007 (wide) MPAA Rating: R for language and some violent content. Distributor: New Line Cinema Cast And Credits Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Ryan Gosling, David Strathairn, Rosamund Pike, Embeth Davidtz Directed by: Gregory Hoblit Produced by: Liz Glotzer (II), Howard "Hawk" Koch Jr, Toby Emmerich

Gregory Hoblit's "Fracture" is a movie of slick surfaces, smart dialogue and intricate, chesslike maneuvers that sees its characters perform a dance of obsession and death around a "perfect murder." It doesn't have enough psychological weight to support its rich style, however, and its perfect murder is so imperfectly conceived and executed that discussions after the lights come up will undoubtedly focus on the many plot holes. The chief antagonists are old pro Anthony Hopkins and up-and-coming newcomer Ryan Gosling, so it's fun to watch the two actors have a go at one another. The movie entertains, but it's a shallow entertainment where you have no rooting interest in the outcome.

"Fracture" plays mostly to an older crowd, though Gosling might attract younger viewers. New Line should see average to above-average grosses for the first two weeks with this sleek Los Angeles-set thriller before it takes its place on video shelves next to such courtroom thrillers as "Jagged Edge" and, yes, Hoblit's own "Primal Fear." A curiosity for film buffs is that Hoblit has essentially remade his own debut feature.

The antagonists already are in motion as the movie begins. Hopkins' Ted Crawford apparently is a rich aeronautical genius and CEO with a love for precision and Rube Goldberg machines, a beautiful trophy wife (Embeth Davidtz) and a luxurious lifestyle. He dashes out of his office and heads immediately to the hotel where his wife is conducting an adulterous affair. He sneaks into the hotel room the lovers have so conveniently vacated for the swimming pool, does something in that room -- you know this will be important later -- then races to his polished modern home to await his wife's return. Moments after she arrives, he shoots her point blank in the face.

Gosling's assistant D.A. Willy Beachum also is in a hurry, having just landed a lucrative job with a downtown law firm. He rushes to wind up his affairs in the D.A.'s Office, appear at a charity benefit, get cozy with his lovely new boss (Rosamund Pike) and select the design for his plush new office. He's so rushed that he appears at Ted's arraignment in a tuxedo for that night's event.

The point here, of course, is Willy is not paying attention to details when he agrees to prosecute Ted as his last case for the D.A. Since Ted has dictated and signed a confession to attempted murder -- his wife lies comatose in a hospital -- so what can go wrong?

Predictably, plenty. Indeed, the case falls apart almost immediately. The alleged murder weapon, a gun, has never fired a bullet. And because the first cop on the scene, Detective Rob Nunally (Billy Burke), is none other than the victim's lover -- he somehow never learned her last name or identity -- the confession is tossed out. Leaving Willy with no evidence unless he can find the real murder weapon. It never turns up.

Even this brief synopsis indicates how coldly mechanical Daniel Pyne and Glenn Gers' script is, like those intriguing but pointless contraptions Ted keeps in his home. Everything neatly slots into place in Ted's cunning murder scheme. Of course, you have to accept that he can absolutely predict how everyone will behave, starting with his wife's cop lover and a judge and assistant D.A., who allow Ted to pick his prosecuting attorney. Sure, criminal defendants pick their own prosecuting attorney all the time.

But how can Ted predict that Willy will jeopardize his corporate law career to pursue him? Nothing in his psychological profile fits that act: Willy reeks of greed, ambition and arrogance -- but not stupidity. Even if his "weakness" is that he hates to lose, this would never trump his burning desire to become a corporate legal eagle.

The movie has thrown in a bit of class consciousness. Willy is a poor boy whose head swims in the high altitude of downtown corporate suites. Give the filmmakers credit for doing nothing to make this slickster lawyer the least bit likable. Conversely, Ted is a formula villain, but Hopkins adds actorish touches to give him enough backbone and foul flesh to make him an amusing villain. He really should get away with his crime if you can get past the fact he coldly put a bullet into his wife's brain.

There might be bits and pieces missing here in the final edit. Willy and his new boss have no sooner shaken hands then they are in bed. Where did that come from? And what purpose does it serve, anyway?

Perhaps to distract viewers from such shortcomings, Hoblit takes you on a whirlwind tour of Los Angeles high life, from sleek executive suites, the Disney Concert Hall and the Standard Hotel Downtown's rooftop lounge to the Miramar Hotel at Santa Monica Beach and Ted's exquisite estate. Sometimes cinematographer Kramer Morgenthau uses extreme wide angle lenses to take it all in. The film's composers, Mychael Danna and Jeff Danna, provide ominous music in the background to give things an edgy quality. The film does have its own compulsive drive, but the characters never make much sense.