Fracture

The relationship of a young ambitious man to an establishment made of older and more accomplished men is known as the "anxiety of influence." It can be called the father-son relationship, or the mentor-student relationship, or the struggle between the beta and the alpha male.

Here’s what happens. The young man approaches the tradition and sees that it has no place for him. "The tradition" here can be a specific institution, like an elite law firm, or the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It can also refer more abstractly to the generation of men that came before.

Who is the new young man? What is his purpose? A young man who wants to be taken seriously cannot prove himself in a vacuum. He must fight his way into the canon of older and more established men.

In mainstream cinema, this dynamic is often illustrated on two levels: the implied relationship between the actors in the collective mind of the viewing public, and the more direct and antagonistic (but less real) relationship between the characters.

You go to see a movie like Fracture because you want to see the anxiety of influence played out between critically acclaimed relative newcomer Ryan Gosling and Sir Anthony. This is not the sort of simple contest that only one man can win, but more of a demanding and competitive ritual. An upstart like Gosling can’t be truly taken seriously as part of the canon until he shares the screen with the likes of Hopkins and doesn’t come out looking like a cardboard cut-out. A lion like Hopkins can’t hold onto his throne without regularly coming face to face with the latest favorite and demonstrating that he can scuffle with the young pups. It’s a contest that both men can win at the same time – and that’s the ideal outcome – but either or both of them also stands to lose, which is what makes it exciting to
watch.

The plot of the movie is a detail. This script was written to support the dynamic between actors that we’re seeing here. It might have been a different pair, but if even one of them was an unknown, few people would care about this movie.

Trailer for Fracture