A Long Way Down

Turns out Pierce Brosnan doesn't always annoy the hell out of me after all. I actually quite liked him in this. He still got way too much screen time (compared to the others) and I would have preferred more Toni Collette and Aaron Paul and less of him and Imogen Poots (whoever she is).

I vaguely remembered the story, as I had read Nick Hornby's book and very much enjoyed it at the time. The translation to screen was pretty decent, I thought. Sure, the book is better. It almost always is. And, yes, Toni Collette played the same role she did in About a Boy (Nick Hornby again and still suicidal). But I enjoyed myself anyway.

It helps that I loved Breaking Bad and - consequently pretty much anyone that was on it - appreciate Aaron Paul. So much so that it actually outweighed my dislike for Brosnan. I'm not sure I would have watched A Long Way Down with only Toni Collette tipping the scale. Lucky I did.

Another shortish review here, but that is really all I got.

6/10

Fracture

Ted Crawford shoots his wife. He knows she is cheating on him and she knows with whom. So, yes, it is pre-meditated. There is never any doubt that he did it. There are, however, several problems, not the least of them the fact that the arresting officer is Lt. Nunally, the guy the wife was having an affair with.

When Nunally comes to the scene he does not know who Crawford is, as he has only been meeting with his lover under the names 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith'. Crawford lets him into the house under the condition that both men put their guns down. He confesses to Nunally then and there. When the policeman sees the victim, he goes off on Crawford (not proper conduct for a police officer). Crawford later repeats his confession and signs it at the police station - with Nunally in presence during interrogation.

The prosecutor of the case, Willy Beachum, does not know the connection between the victim (who is still alive, but in a coma that she has very little chance of ever coming out of) and the arresting officer. Beachum is very ambitious and has secured a new job at a prestigious law firm ('it's all about the money, money, money') and this is to be his very last case. Unfortunately, he grossly underestimates Crawford and isn't paying as much attention to the task at hand as he should be.

Crawford chooses to defend himself, offers to start trial right away, recants his confession and pleads not guilty. Beachum's underestimating him is not the biggest problem with the case. The gun they find at the Crawford house - the only gun they find, no matter how many times they turn the house upside down - is not the murder weapon. And then, when Beachum learns that Nunally was having an affair with the victim right when he is on the witness stand, the case falls apart.

Thanks to his failure, Beachum loses the new job he has not started yet and - despite his (old) boss having his back - he is done with being a prosecutor. But when he realizes that Crawford is about to pull the plug on his wife's life support, he begs for any help he can get to stop it. He does get the paperwork legally required but does not make it on time.

And then all the pieces fall into place and Beachum goes to see Crawford at his house. He explains his theory of where the murder weapon is - Nunally's gun that Crawford replaced while the officer attended to the victim. Crawford, thinking himself in the safe haven of 'double jeopardy', is as condescending as can be, owning up to everything because he is convinced nobody can touch him now. But the big mistake he made was taking his wife off life support. He beat the trial for attempted murder due to lack of physical evidence but will now be retried for murder in the first degree - with the murder weapon in evidence.

Justice is served.

A brilliant group of actors make this much more exciting than I made it sound.

7/10

Surrogates

In a story set in the future, instead of leaving their comfortable chairs people move about via surrogates. You know, much like today they do online. This means that you could be the grossest slob in person, but cut the dashing figure out in the world.

This has gravely lowered the crime rate, but things are starting to come apart at the seams when a weapon that kills not only the surrogates but also the people operating them appears and is being used on humans. The first victim is the son of the original inventor of the surrogates who has long been disgraced and kicked out of his own company and now works against the use of surrogates.

The killer was actually sent to take him out, but his son used one of daddy's surrogates. Out to find the mysterious weapon and trying to uncover the people involved in its use is FBI agent Greer, who is beginning to become uncomfortable with the use of his artificial self and goes rogue (this is Bruce Willis, so of course he would).

A bit confusing and the artificial visuals are not at all charming.

4/10