Plot hole: In this film, a murderer (Mr. Crowford) goes free after recanting his confession (alleging duress) and concealing the murder weapon. The film forgets the most damning evidence: The perp and the victim had been alone in a closed room from which witnesses had heard shots fired. The perp himself establishes that he had motives. He cannot go free without an astounding alibi.
Fracture (2007)
Plot summary
Directed by: Gregory Hoblit
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Ryan Gosling, David Strathairn, Rosamund Pike
Ted Crawford (Anthony Hopkins) shoots his unfaithful wife, confesses to the police - orally and in writing - but then pleads not guilty and opts to defend himself in court. The young DA assigned to the case, William Beachum (Ryan Gosling), has had a successful career with a 97% conviction rate. Beachum however is actually on his way to a lucrative position in a big private law firm, but his desire to win keeps him on the case. But during the trial, it is discovered that the arresting officer was actually Mrs. Crawford's lover, hence Ted Crawford's confessional is dismissed due to the fact he may have been "under pressure" to sign it by the arresting officer. Also Mr. Crawford's gun that was collected from the crime scene has apparently never been fired, despite the fact that 4 bullets are missing from his gun case. With no real evidence, Willy now finds himself possibly losing his first case and losing everything that he has coming to him unless he can discover something that can put Mr. Crawford away for murder and win the case.
More mistakes in Fracture
Ted Crawford: Knowledge is pain.
Trivia: The prop department had some fun during the making of the movie; you can see a lot of names of miscellaneous crew slipped in a few spots. There are boxes with case files scattered around the district attorney's offices; the ones behind Willy in his own office (People vs. Bonaventura - Tony Bonaventura being the property master, People vs. Morgenthau - Kramer Morgenthau being the director of photography) get quite a bit of screen time, but there are several others all over the office space, all carrying the name of a crew member. For instance, in a brief sequence when a dejected Willy walks up to Mona's desk to ask for her help before the third act, you can see unique ones. There's also a listing board with judges during the arraignment, and one with doctors when Willy is stopped by the hospital security; both of them are filled with names of production crew members. (01:16:50 - 01:33:20)
Question: How does the motel scene pan out? Crawford enters without taking any precautions (except the hat that manages to fool the one security camera) and only by plot armor cloak is by neither victim, who are frolicking in the pool a few feet from him and could and should see the old stocky dude hobbling around their bungalow fully in the open. Then he enters through a keycard that is never explained. Poolside we then see at one point the lieutenant looking towards the bungalow, frowning; what's with the frown? There is nothing suspicious about what is shown there, and Hopkins is not doing - at that part of the scene, the way it is edited - anything that would draw attention. Also, the phone call at the beginning doesn't make sense for anything but providing background for the audience, considering he already knew where Nunally was.
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