Fracture, directed by Gregory Hoblit, is another in the perfect crime genre. At the beginning of the film, aeronautical engineer Theodore Crawford (played by Anthony Hopkins) leaves work, visits the Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica to witness his wife Jennifer (played by Embeth Davidtz) swimming in the hotel pool with Robert Nunally (played by Billy Burke) and then visits their hotel room. He then drives home. When his wife arrives shortly thereafter, they have an argument, he pulls a gun on her, and shoots her in the face. She falls as if dead. Gardeners, working outside, hear shots and summon the police. There is a scuffle involving Crawford and the police officer, but he is arrested, signs a confession, and soon appears before an arraignment judge. District Attorney Joe Labruto (played by David Strathairn) assigns the case to ace prosecutor William Beacham (played by Ryan Gosling), who has been accepted into a corporate law firm that will boost his salary astronomically. But in court Crawford unexpectedly pleads not guilty to attempted murder (Jennifer is in a coma), and he insists on defending himself. The gun confiscated from Crawford at the time of the arrest, however, proves not to be the murder weapon. In the trial, Crawford points out that the arresting officer is Nunally, his wife’s lover, and he indicates that his confession was coerced by Nunally at the police station while other police were menacingly present. Since the police cannot find any additional evidence, Crawford files for a motion of acquittal. Beacham, who has had a 97 percent conviction rate, is rattled, especially given Crawford’s passive aggressive behavior toward him. The District Attorney, embarrassed by the courtroom disaster, tries to reassign what little there is of the case to another prosecutor. But Beacham insists on pursuing the case, even jeopardizing his chances to join the law firm, in the belief that the murder weapon will turn up during another search of the house, and he visits Jennifer in the hospital, hoping that she will come out of the coma to testify, but all to no avail. Crawford, armed with a power of attorney, pulls the plug from various devices that have been keeping Jennifer alive in the hospital, and she dies. But the perfect crime fractures as Beacham reviews tapes from the Miramar Hotel and continues to search for the whereabouts of the murder weapon. Crawford, meanwhile, believes that he has been acquitted and does not fear Beacham's continuing probe. MH
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