Fracture

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.

Plot hole: *SPOILER* Toward the end of the movie, Ryan Gosling goes to Hopkins' house where Hopkins is tricked into not only confessing again, but giving Gosling the murder weapon, after they are back in court and Gosling is the acting prosecutor. This would be a conflict of interest due to the fact that Gosling is a witness.

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Suggested correction: First, the gun that Beachum took from Crowford's house was not the murder weapon. It was Crowford's unfired gun. He only took it out of the fear of his life. Second, Beachum entered Crowford's house with police supervision. If he plays it by the book, Crowford's confession is valid. In that case, supervising officers will stand witness, along with a recording confirming their testimony. Third, Beachum doesn't need the confession anymore. He was amply clear on that matter.

FleetCommand

More mistakes in Fracture

Lt. Robert Nunally: I warned you about him.
Willy Beachum: You warned me he was smart. You didn't warn me you were stupid.

More quotes from Fracture

Question: I don't understand why the police haven't checked out Hopkins' gun when he was removed from the crime scene. Wouldn't they check the serial number to see where and when he purchased the gun? The movie mentions that the gun was bought a month prior. Since the gun is actually the officer's gun, wouldn't that registration information come up? Then they would know it was not the murder weapon.

Answer: Crowford (Hopkins) shot his wife with the gun that belonged to Nunally (Burke), but switched it with his at a moment of Nunally's distraction. The gun that the police mistakenly collected was not the murder weapon. This was a key plot point. Crowford goes on to gloat about it near the end of the film, saying the one piece of evidence Nunally needed was on his hip the whole time.

FleetCommand

Answer: Since he had meticulously planned every detail, Hopkins would have provided all the necessary information (serial number, date/place of purchase, receipt, insurance, etc.) during discovery. The gun was recovered from the scene, so the police and the prosecution, who believed the case to be open-and-shut, simply didn't check this information against the gun itself and just assumed it was Hopkins'. This is exactly what Hopkins was banking on happening, so the revelation that it the gun was not, in fact, the murder weapon would be a surprise during the trial.

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