Plot: L.A.P.D. Detective Lieutenant Robert "Rob" Nunally leads a squad investigating reported gunshots at the home of the wealthy Crawfords, husband and wife Ted and Jennifer. Nunally enters the house facing Ted holding a gun, he confessing to shooting Jennifer, who is lying unconscious or dead in a pool of her own blood a short distance away from him. As the Police take Ted into custody, the Police station where he will subsequently sign a written confession as to having shot Jennifer, other first responders find that Jennifer is still alive, although the eventual diagnosis is that, pending a miracle, she will not ever awaken from her coma, thus being placed on life support. The case is assigned to ambitious young Deputy District Attorney Willy Beachum. Despite being a good lawyer, Willy has thus far scripted his own success, a ninety-seven percent conviction rate, achieved somewhat by handing over unwinnable cases to other Deputy District Attorneys. This case will be his last in the District Attorney's office, as he has been hired by prestigious private firm Wooton Sims. This move of being hired by a private firm is much quicker than most of Willy's predecessors and colleagues in the District Attorney's office, again achieved partly on a calculated action on his part. Although Willy is unsure if he will see this case through to its conclusion, he is tasked to do so as the case looks to be concluded before he is scheduled to be at Wooton Sims. With Ted having made the verbal and written confessions, and with Ted declining legal counsel in favor of acting as his own lawyer, Willy sees this case as a slam dunk in his favor despite one small hiccup regarding the supposed murder weapon. Despite Ted's seemingly crazy behavior, Willy will soon learn that Ted has a grand plan to win the case involving Nunally. As the case progresses, Willy has to decide how far he will go to get that conviction, it almost becoming a personal vendetta against Ted, losing which may not only threaten his new job at Wooton Sims, but his career as a lawyer, that is unless he can find that much needed evidence to put Ted away legitimately.
Alternative Plot: Willy Beachum (Ryan Gosling), a hotshot prosecutor, is about to leave his post for a lucrative job at a private law firm when his boss (David Strathairn) hands him a seemingly open-and-shut case. Ted Crawford (Anthony Hopkins) tried to kill his wife with a shot to the head and is defending himself in court. All hope for a quick and easy trial fly out the door when Ted proves to be a more cunning and devious adversary than Willy anticipates.
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