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Fracture starring Ryan Gosling & Anthony Hopkins

Posted on February 9, 2012 Written by ripitup

Fracture Movie Poster — Fracture starring Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling. 2007.

Fracture Premise

Ted Crawford (Anthony Hopkins) is a very smart, rich and successful man married to the beautiful Jennifer (Embeth Davidtz) who is many years his junior. Of course she is cheating on him with a guy close to her age- cop Robert Nunally (Billy Burke).

So Ted decides to kill his wife, destroy Rob and get away with it. He plans everything- from how Rob is the cop that shows up because there was a shooting in his house to how he will confess…

Willy Beachum (Ryan Gosling) is a young and very successful prosecutor dying to move up to the corporate world. He has only one case left, and then he will leave for his glamorous new career.

The case seems easy enough- they have the weapon, the confession, the guy. They just don’t have the body since Jennifer has gone into a coma. But hey, they have everything they need. Moreover, the defendant, Ted, seems crazy enough to represent himself…

But of course Ted is a lot smarter and a lot more meticulous than they could have ever imagined. He plays his cards well, and he seems to have foreseen every move.

As the case goes on, and Willy gets to see Ted for who he really is, but both his relationship (with corporate lawyer Rosamund Pike) and career get jeopardized. How the hell can he win against Ted?

Worth Watching

Fracture is a real treat for the lovers of a solid legal thriller. The actors, unsurprisingly, do a great job. The script is so cool that you think it was probably adapted (and adapted well) from a bestseller. Sure, the movie has flaws, and I couldn’t have cared less about Willy’s romance with the gorgeous lawyer Nikki (Rosamund Pike), but bear with it.

Their relationship gives us a good idea about Willy, and it carries elements that move the plot forward. The villain is extremely clever and well-prepared, and well… the only reason the movie got 7.1 (and not an 8 on IMDB) is because people don’t agree on the ending. Frankly, I loved it. Watch it.

Directed by Gregory Hoblit, written by Daniel Pyne & Glenn Gers.

Fun Notes on the Cast

– English actress Rosamund Pike plays Elizabeth Bennet’s older/prettier/milder sister Jane in 2005’s movie Pride and Prejudice. Elizabeth is played by Keira Knightley.

– Cliff Curtis, who plays Rob’s partner, co-starred in Colombiana as the uncle of the main character (Zoe Saldana) and he also guest-starred in two episodes of Body of Proof as the love interest of the main character Megan Hunt (Dana Delany).

– Billy Burke, who plays the lover/cop, is Bella’s father in the Twilight series.

3 Movies with “Tristan” Protagonists feat. Legends of The Fall, Stardust, Tristan & Isolde

Posted on December 24, 2010 Written by ripitup

The first time I heard the name “Tristan” was when I watched Legends of the Fall, starring Brad Pitt. I had found Tristan to be a pretty cool and unique name back then. I also love the movie so it stayed with me. Later I saw the movie Tristan & Isolde, a lovely romantic adventure/drama starring James Franco. Then came Stardust, and Charlie Cox’s Tristan.

Enjoy 3 movies that all have Tristans as their leading characters. The order is random.

1) Movie: Tristan and Isolde

Actor playing Tristan: James Franco

Tristan & Isolde starring James Franco, Sophia Myles, Rufus Sewell, Henry Cavill & Mark Strong.

Directed by Kevin Reynolds, 2006’s Tristan & Isolde co-stars Sophia Myles, Rufus Sewell, Henry Cavill & Mark Strong.

James Franco plays Tristan, a man raised by Lord Marke (Rufus Sewell) after an Irish attack left Tristan an orphan. Based on the legend, Tristan and Isolde is a powerful love story. When Briton Tristan is presumed dead, Irish princess Isolde (Sophia Myles) takes care of him. They fall for each other but they have to part. Unfortunately, their “reunion” comes in the least desired format: Tristan unknowingly has “won” Isolde as a bride for his Lord Marke. How can the two stay apart? Yet how can be together?

Tristan is a great soldier, friend, leader and lover. He is generally very loyal, in fact he would have gladly have died for Marke but the fact that he fell for Isolde before she married Marke complicates things. Tristan feels tremendous guilt and is thorn between his love for Isolde and his love for Marke.

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Read Tristan and Isolde Detailed Review featuring Plot Trivia and James Franco Links

2) Movie: Legends of the Fall Brad Pitt

Actor playing Tristan: Brad Pitt

Directed by Edward Zwick and co-starring Anthony Hopkins, Aidan Quinn, Julia Ormond & Henry Thomas, Legends of the Fall is an epic romance/drama/war whose story covers many years.

Brad Pitt plays Tristan Ludlow, a young man living in 1900s America with his father –former soldier William (Anthony Hopkins), his older brother Alfred (Aidan Quinn) and his younger brother Samuel (Henry Thomas). Tristan is the free-spirited, rebellious and adventurous one. Alfred is rational and responsible and they both dote on their youngest and more fragile brother Samuel. Things are fine until Samuel brings home his beautiful fiancé Susannah (Julia Ormond). Both Alfred and Tristan are attracted to her, but this doesn’t become an issue until World War I breaks out. The boys go off to fight, and Samuel doesn’t survive. Upon their return, Tristan and Susannah start a passionate romance, totally frowned upon and envied by Alfred. Tristan is not happy, however – he needs to go off into the wilderness, to find himself and get over the death of his brother. But will Susannah be able to wait him forever?

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3) Movie: Stardust

Actor playing Tristan: Charlie Cox

Stardust starring Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro, Mark Strong & Sienna Miller

Charlie Cox’s Tristan lives in a village that neighbors a magical kingdom. In fact, his existence is due to the fact that his father Dunstan (young Dunstan is played by Ben Barnes) crossed over to the magical kingdom, met a witch’s slave and fell in love with her. Tristan is desperately in love with Victoria (Sienna Miller), a spoiled girl who is more interested in money and title. Tristan decides to win her heart by bringing her a fallen star but to his disbelief, the star is actually young beautiful woman called Yvaine (Claire Danes). He has to go through a journey with Yvaine and at first they can’t really get along. But this is a journey full of unexpected twists, full of pirates, witches, crown-crazed princes and more.

Directed by Matthew Vaughn and based on Neil Gaiman’s graphic novel, 2007’s Stardust has one impressive cast including Michelle Pfeiffer, Claire Danes, Robert De Niro, Mark Strong, Rupert Everett, Ricky Gervais, Sarah Alexander (Susan of Coupling), Ben Barnes, Sienna Miller and Henry Cavill. Interestingly enough, both Henry Cavill and Mark Strong co-star in both Tristan & Isolde and Stardust.

Read 20 Reasons to Love Stardust for detailed review: plot trivia, review, photos and links

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The Devil and Daniel Webster starring Alec Baldwin, Anthony Hopkins and Jennifer Love Hewitt

Posted on June 21, 2010 Written by ripitup

The Devil and Daniel Webster- a.k.a Shortcut to Happiness starring Alec Baldwin, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Anthony Hopkins. Directed by Alec Baldwin. Image from: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/

Let there be spoilers!!

Jabez Stone (Alec Baldwin) is a struggling writer. He has unpublished and unwanted manuscripts, a writer friend called Julius (Dan Aykroyd) who just got a big paycheck and a great contract, a loaded brother, a sales job he just got fired from and a tiny flat. Sure, he has two other writer friends- who support him and encourage him. But one day Jabez gets robbed and loses the only thing he cared about possessing- his new manuscript. Broke, unlucky and miserable, he has a brief nervous breakdown where he throws his typewriter out of the window. When this gets unfortunately gets an old woman killed and cops are at the door, Bez gets an unexpected visitor: The Devil herself (Jennifer Love Hewitt). She offers him quite a deal. She will make the “law” problem disappear and give him what he has wanted the most in his entire life: Success and respect. Now, on another day, Bez would probably decline. But he now has a chance to save the person he accidentally killed and be a success- for once. He agrees. He will have 10 years of magnificent success in return for his soul…

And sure enough, the troubles go away. The literary agent – Constance Hurry (Kim Catrall) loves his manuscript. Soon, his books are being sold fast, he’s making great money, everyone knows his name and women are throwing themselves at him, including Constance. But of course who said the devil would play fair? She takes the success away from his friend Julius. Moreover, no critic loves his book. No one seems to care about what he wants to say. As long as it is written by him, it is gold. Success, fame and busy schedules also take away his two good friends. Not to mention, years go by pretty quickly…

Now this movie is not bad. The first half is pretty entertaining and I suspect it will hit home more with writers. Which writer hasn’t been through that desperation period? But after the deal, and the first couple of hints of success, the pace of the movie really slows down (not that it was exactly fast before that) and potential for a good (black) comedy and the chance to be a fun little satire die down. Sure, the drama is expected and welcome on a level but it shouldn’t have arrived at the expense of entertainment. There is also the relationship between Daniel Webster (Anthony Hopkins)- a respected and successful agent and the devil. I am not sure if that makes or breaks the movie.

The movie does have a good cast and some fun moments. But it is not enough. The story is based on an old play. There is also a 1942-dated movie of the same name where the deal takes place between a farmer and the devil. Since I haven’t seen that movie but what would the occupation of Webster be?

This is not a movie that deserves your focus. There is no harm in playing it in the background, but if you are not going to multi-task, you might not enjoy the film much.

The IMDB rating is 5.7. I think it is more of a 4 to 5/10. Let me know what you think about the ending.

Recommended Reading feat. The Cast