Right before changing his career from the DA's office to a major law firm, Willy Beachum (Ryan Gosling) faced a seemingly simple case, which is about attempted murder with confession signed by the suspect Ted Crawford (Anthony Hopkins). He allegedly tried to kill his wife Jennifer (Embeth Davidtz) at gunpoint because of her disloyalty. It turned out that the case was much more complicated and it was about to cost Beachum' new job…

There are surprises along the way. Some of them are necessary but some of them are just surprises made to surprise. However, the film is really entertaining. The question all along has been: What had the weapon gone? Crawford had planned so much that it was almost a perfect murder (or attempted murder). In the end, it is what Crawford told Beachum: Everything has its weak point.

Despite his killing, you probably will not hate Crawford, not because he was the victim of the disloyalty of his wife, but because he was so clever. You will also like Beachum because of his persistence in seeking the truth (which is a U-turn within the storyline). It's interesting: is there a villain in the story?