Willy Beachum
When
Ted Crawford discovers that his beautiful younger wife,
Jennifer, is having an affair, he plans her murder ... the perfect murder. Among the cops arriving at the crime scene is hostage negotiator Detective
Rob Nunally, the only officer permitted entry to the house.
Surprisingly, Crawford readily admits to shooting his wife, but Nunally is too stunned to pay close attention when he recognizes his lover, whose true identity he never knew, lying on the floor in a pool of blood. Although Jennifer was shot at point blank range, Nunally realizes she isn't dead.
Crawford is immediately arrested and arraigned after confessing – a seemingly slam-dunk case for hot shot assistant district attorney Willy Beachum, who has one foot out the door of the District Attorney's office on his way to a lucrative job in high-stakes corporate law.
But nothing is as simple as it seems, including this case. Will the lure of power and a love affair with a sexy, ambitious attorney at his new firm overpower Willy's fierce drive to win, or worse, quash his code of ethics? In a tense duel of intellect and strategy, Crawford and Willy both learn that a "fracture" can be found in every ostensibly perfect façade.
Ryan Gosling admits that an actor's reaction to any script depends heavily on their frame of mind at the time they read it. "I was living in a tent for two months, so when I talked to Greg Hoblit from my tent, it definitely sounded interesting," he laughs. "But I honestly wasn't sure what I could bring to the table," he says on a more serious note. "I just knew it was something I should do. I liked the suspense, I liked that I couldn't figure it out when I first read it, and I liked that Anthony Hopkins was playing Crawford. It's not every day you get to work with one of your heroes."
Hoblit believes the stars were in perfect alignment for destiny to seemingly guide the casting process as it did. "We cast by dint of some good luck and persistence," he says. "There is not a single role I would cast differently had we the chance to do it all over again." Good fortune for the filmmakers because every actor felt exactly the same as Hoblit, expressly mentioning time and again their respect for him and their enthusiasm at being able to work with the director of Primal Fear.
Hoblit first noticed Gosling when he saw The Believer, which premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. "What's perfectly clear right off the bat is that Ryan has an abundant talent," declares Hoblit. "The kind of focus and intensity he has can't be taught – you just have it or you don't. That, coupled with his off-beat good looks and natural charisma, made it a pretty easy call."
"The minute you lay eyes on the character of Willy, you know he's a smart guy," says Hoblit. "Ryan embodies that. His intelligence is completely apparent and because he's such a facile actor and has so many gears, I find him compelling to watch. I honestly can't name another actor in his age range who's as engrossing. Shooting was endlessly interesting because nothing was ever the same from take to take because Ryan tries to find the truth in each moment. I knew he'd be a beautiful foil for Anthony."
Gosling sees his character in a simple light. "Willy wiggles like a worm on Crawford's hook," he says. "He basically tortures Willy, and Willy gets caught up in something totally out of his control. There's no relationship between them from Willy's perspective; it's all created by Crawford."
"But Willy can't lose this case because it will jeopardize both of his jobs," continues Gosling. "Either the job he has or the one he wants to have. So losing is not really an option. And on a fundamental level, he doesn't want to see a murderer set free, especially someone who's enjoying outsmarting the law, and him, as much as Crawford seems to be."
