Ted Crawford is an engineer who lives with his wife Jennifer in the couple's lavish Southern California home. One day, after carefully planning out the details to ensure that there is no way he can be convicted of murder, Ted shoots his wife in a blatant attempt to murder the woman. When head hostage negotiator Rob Nunnaly arrives on the scene to speak with Ted, he is shocked to find that the victim of the shooting is in fact his longtime lover. Though Jennifer survives the trauma of being shot in the head at close range, she hovers comatose between life and death as star prosecutor Willy Beachum reluctantly accepts the case while preparing to leave the Los Angeles criminal court system behind for a more promising career at a posh private law firm. Though the D.A. vehemently resents Beachum's lofty plan for departure, the hotshot young lawyer remains convinced that he can expedite the apparently open-and-shut case and be on his way to greener pastures in one week's time at the very most.
This was a pretty good mystery that keeps you guessing until the end. It's unique in that you know who committed the crime from the very beginning. However, that's not the mystery. The biggest question is what happened to the murder weapon since it appears the prosecutor can't make a case without it. The answer turned out to be very surprising and ingenious. While I was surprised and impressed at the ending, I thought the film focused too much on the missing weapon and didn't have enough other twists and turns to be great. Anthony Hopkins did a good job, but I kept seeing similarities between his character and Hannibal Lecter - murdering sociopath. Overall, though, it's certainly worth a look and provides a good payoff in the end.
Rating: 3 of 5 stars
Would I watch it again: No
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Ryan Gosling, Billy Burke
The opinions expressed are those of me, myself and I.
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