Film

Slick Willy Beachum (Gosling) is about to leave the D.A.’s office for a cushy job with a corporate firm. Then a seemingly straightforward case lands on his desk: Millionaire Ted Crawford (Hopkins) has shot his wife and confessed to the crime. Willy figures this will be easy. What Willy didn’t know (but we do) is that the first cop on the scene (Burke), to whom Ted confessed, was having an affair with Ted’s wife. Oops. Then the ballistics report fails to match the bullets to Ted’s gun. Double oops. Case dismissed.

Willy doesn’t take defeat well, and sets out to figure out how exactly Ted pulled this off. It’s not hard to work out the howdunnit but that’s hardly the point. The fun here is watching Hopkins and Gosling ham it up—Hopkins looks like a bloated lizard, with eyes that blink only when he damn well pleases. He does more with a little wink than most actors can do with an outsized fit of rage. Gosling, taking a paid holiday from the art-film circuit, matches Hopkins with his studied bravado and a hint of a Southern drawl. This is ham of a very high quality.