Movie Type: Courtroom Drama, Psychological Thriller
Themes: Ladder to the Top, Infidelity, Obsessive Quests
Main Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Ryan Gosling, David Strathairn, Rosamund Pike, Embeth Davidtz
Release Year: 2007
Country: US
Run Time: 113 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
A structural engineer (Anthony Hopkins) and an ambitious young district attorney (Ryan Gosling) become locked in a deadly battle of wits when the former is found innocent in the attempted murder of his wife in director Gregory Hoblit's tense tale of courtroom mind games. Ted Crawford (Hopkins) is an engineer who lives with his wife, Jennifer (Embeth Davidtz), 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 kill the woman. When head hostage negotiator Rob Nunally (Billy Burke) 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 (Gosling) 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 DA (David Strathairn) 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. Beachum's swelling ego betrays him, however, as his future boss Nikki Gardner (Rosamund Pike) begins to turn up the heat and fracture mechanics specialist Ted chooses to represent himself at the trial knowing well that a career spent spotting structural flaws in aeronautical systems has instilled him with just the kind of argumentative skills needed to riddle the swaggering young lawyer's "foolproof" case with doubt. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Billy Burke - Detective Rob Nunally; Cliff Curtis - Detective Flores; Fiona Shaw - Judge Robinson; Bob Gunton - Judge Gardner; Josh Stamberg - Norman Foster; Judith Scott - Resident; Xander Berkeley - Judge Moran; Zoe Kazan - Mona; Carlos Cervantes - Ciro; Petrea Burchard - Doctor Marion Kang; Garz Chan - Assistant Hotel Manager; Wendy Cutler - Gladys; Larry Sullivan - Lee Gardner; Valerie Dillman - Peg Gardner; Gonzalo Menendez - Uniform Cop; Vivica Genaux - Opera Singer; Cooper Thornton - Public Defender; Lyle Kanouse - Messenger; Sandra Prosper - Karla; Monica Garcia - Crawford's Secretary; Joe Spano - Judge Pincus; Peter Breitmayer - NTSB Guy; Mirron E. Willis - Moran' Baliff; David Purdham - Burt Wooten; John Littlefield - Cop; Lou Reyes - SWAT Medic; Rainy Kerwin - Wooton Sims Receptionist; R.J. Chambers - Bailiff; Eugene Collier - Bailiff; Tom Virtue - Attorney Apley; Gunter Simon - Orderly; Frank Torres - Orderly; Payton Koch - Kid; Cooper Koch - Kid; Sophie Hoblit - Kid; Caroline Weinstock - Kid; Alexander Weinstock - kid; Michael Khmourov - Russian Man; Julia Emelin - Russian Woman; Yorgo Constantine - Public Defender for the Russians; Alla Korot - Russian Translator; Jeff Enden - Detective; Kally Smith - Lobruto's Secretary; Retta - Evidence Room Cop
Credit
Mindy Roffman - Art Director, Michael Disco - Associate Producer, Samuel J. Brown - Associate Producer, Beverly J. Graf - Associate Producer, Deborah Aquila - Casting, Tricia Wood - Casting, Jennifer Smith - Casting, Nicolas Dodd - Conductor, Louise Rosner - Co-producer, Elisabetta Beraldo - Costume Designer, Scott Andrew Robertson - First Assistant Director, Gregory Hoblit - Director, David Rosenbloom - Editor, Liz Glotzer - Executive Producer, Toby Emmerich - Executive Producer, Hawk Koch - Executive Producer, Charlotte A. Parker - Hair Styles, Mike Fantasia - Location Manager, David Diamond - Location Manager, Richard Davis - Location Manager, Jeff Danna - Composer (Music Score), Mychael Danna - Composer (Music Score), Cynthia Barr - Makeup, Jane English - Makeup, Don Devine - Camera Operator, Bob Gorelick - Camera Operator, Paul Bryan Eads - Production Designer, Kramer Morgenthau - Cinematographer, Charles Weinstock - Producer, Stella Vaccaro - Set Designer, David Ronne - Sound/Sound Designer, Billy Burton - Stunts Coordinator, Louise Rosner - Unit Production Manager, Hawk Koch - Unit Production Manager, Daniel Pyne - Screen Story, Daniel Pyne - Screenwriter, Glenn Gers - Screenwriter, Gregory Plotkin - Associate Editor, Rick Reynolds - Post Production Supervisor, Barbara Rosing Hoke - Production Coordinator, Tony Bonaventura - Properties Master, Gary Summers - Re-Recording Mixer, Dan Leahy - Re-Recording Mixer, Suzie Sax - Script Supervisor, Steven F. Beaupre - Second Assistant Director, Larz Anderson - Special Effects Coordinator, Bob Gorelick - Steadicam Operator, Tom Bellfort - Supervising Sound Editor, Brett Laumann - Chief Lighting Technician, Ted Wilson - Construction Coordinator, Victoria De Kay - Costumes Supervisor, Susan Germaine - Key Hairstylist, Christina Smith - Key Make-up, Rachel E. Prentiss - Production Accountant, Emily Glatter - Supervising Production Coordinator, Nancy Nye - Set Decorator, yU+Co - Title Design, Scarlet Letters - Title Design
