DVD: Fracture

• Hopkins chews the scenery with savory results.

Genres: Thriller, courtroom
Director: Gregory Hoblit
DVD released: Aug. 14, 2007
Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Ryan Gosling, Billy Burke, David Strathairn, Rosamund Pike
Verdict: &&&&

A good number of Net surfers have landed on this blog in the past few months after searching for something along the lines of "Ryan Gosling wristwatch fracture." I can't tell you what kind of stylish watch that is he's wearing in the movie, but I can tell you that Fracture is a smart, stylish thriller of a caliber that doesn't come around too often. Upon a second viewing just as enjoyable as the first, I've bumped it up to four medals. Hopkins may be riffing on Hannibal Lecter, but you'll want a ringside seat for this legal chess match in which the viewer knows from the beginning exactly whodunit. See the Jeblog theatrical review here. // DVD NOTES // Deleted scenes focus heavily on an excised love scene between the Ryan Gosling and Rosamund Pike characters. The disc also offers two mildly interesting alternate endings, both of which show Gosling's assistant district attorney confronting Hopkins' villain at his home, as he does in the theatrical cut, but in both alternate endings we see cracks in the Hopkins character that simply don't ring true.