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Fracture
A husband is on trial for the attempted murder of his wife, in what is seemingly an open/shut case for the ambitious district attorney trying to put him away. However, there are surprises for both around every corner, and, as a suspenseful game of cat-and-mouse is played out, each must manipulate and outwit the other.
2007 · Directed by Gregory Hoblit · 113 min · Thriller · Screenplay in the scene database · 5 frames
Tagline
I shot my wife... prove it.
Plot
Theodore "Ted" Crawford, a wealthy Irish aeronautical engineer living in Los Angeles, confirms that his wife, Jennifer, is having an affair with police detective Robert Nunally. Confronting his wife, Crawford shoots her. He calls the police, including Nunally, who enters the house cautiously, negotiating with Crawford for both to put down their guns. Crawford confesses he shot his wife. Recognizing the victim and being subtly goaded by Crawford, Nunally becomes enraged and assaults him. Jennifer, despite her injuries, is not killed, but left in a coma.
Crawford is arrested for attempted murder. He signs a full confession and waives the right to an attorney, even though he will face the rising star deputy district attorney William "Willy" Beachum at trial. Beachum is about to take up a position at the prestigious law firm Wooton Sims and considers the case an open-and-shut matter. He discovers that Crawford's handgun could not have been used in the shooting because it does not match shell casings at the crime scene and, in fact, has not been fired. Yet, he proceeds with the trial on the strength of the signed confession.
At the trial, Crawford informs the court that the arresting officer, Nunally, was having an affair with his wife, assaulted him during his arrest, and was present during his interrogation. Crawford's confession is therefore ruled inadmissible as evidence, being, as the judge puts it, fruit of the poisonous tree. Nunally comes up with a scheme to plant false evidence to implicate Crawford, which Beachum rejects.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Screenplay: Glenn Gers, Daniel Pyne
- Cinematography: Kramer Morgenthau
- Edited by: David Rosenbloom
- Music: Jeff Danna, Mychael Danna
- Production design: Paul Eads
- Produced by: Charles Weinstock
Cast
- Anthony Hopkins as Ted Crawford
- Ryan Gosling as Willy Beachum
- David Strathairn as Joe Lobruto
- Rosamund Pike as Nikki Gardner
- Embeth Davidtz as Jennifer Crawford
- Billy Burke as Rob Nunally
- Cliff Curtis as Detective Flores
- Fiona Shaw as Judge Robinson
- Bob Gunton as Judge Gardner
- Josh Stamberg as Norman Foster
Production
- Country: Germany, United States of America
- Language: English
- Studios: M7 Filmproduktion, New Line Cinema, Castle Rock Entertainment, Weinstock Productions
- Budget: $10,000,000
- Box office: $91,354,215
- Themes: suicide, perfect crime, detective, prosecution, murder, lawyer, los angeles, california, cat and mouse, district attorney, marbles
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