Ryan Gosling. Anthony Hopkins. Two Academy Award-nominated actors. You would think that their elevated statuses would automatically lead to a great film. Regardless of how good the acting is, however, if the script falls apart so does the movie. Hence the problem with “”Fracture.””

The film revolves around a confession and a murder weapon. Willy Beachum (Gosling), a hot-shot assistant district attorney, thinks he has his last case in the bag, conveniently before his leap into the world of corporate law. However, Ted Crawford (Hopkins), accused of attempted murder, has set up this case to not be so clear cut for Beachum.

Crawford killed his wife, Jennifer (Embeth Davidtz), and craftily got rid of any evidence that could have directly pinned himself to the murder. He confessed to the crime but did so to his arresting officer, Rob Nunally (Billy Burke), whom his wife was having an affair with.

The first half of the film is fantastic. Gosling and Hopkins have great chemistry with each other, and the details of the murder leave the viewer intrigued as to what will happen next. In a humorous scene, Hopkins motions to Gosling from across the room to fix his bowtie (he arrived in a tux after spilling coffee on his suit); in another he stalks Gosling via telephone. The exchanges between the two never let up, and they provide for much entertainment.

The film’s weakest actor is Rosamund Pike, who plays Nikki Gardner, a senior associate at the firm and

Beachum’s love interest. She might have a pretty face, but the scenes featuring her were not pretty to watch as she forced her emotions out and had a toneless voice regardless of what emotion she was conveying.

It’s the second half of the film when it starts to lose credibility. Much to Beachum’s fury, Crawford manages to finagle out of his murder conviction. Beachum goes crazy with anger after losing the case and tries to come up with evidence against Crawford to charge him yet again. However, he doesn’t, and not only does Beachum’s life fall apart, but so does the film.

The movie loses credibility in the closing scene. It all seems very Hollywood-esque as justice is delivered to the bad guy through means that don’t seem possible. Although Gosling and Hopkins carry the film with their tǦte-Çÿ-tǦtes, they can’t carry the work of the writers as well.

With a film like this, it would have been interesting to actually see Crawford get away with the murder and Beachum’s life completely fall apart. We can only wait until Hopkins’ next creepy role for something like that to happen.