Genre: Crime/Drama
Director: Michael Mann
Writer: Mo Buck
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kate Winslet, David Harbour, Diane Kruger, Hailee Steinfeld, David Strathairn, John Goodman, Michael Keaton, Christian Slater
Plot: Albert (Benedict Cumberbatch), a brilliant jeweler lays awake in bed with his sweetheart Marie (Hailee Steinfeld). They've been seeing each other for the last six months. At first, Albert was worried his wife Rita (Diane Kruger) would find out about it, but he noticed they both hated each other equally. In fact, she was probably seeing someone else too, but he didn't care as he was happy with Marie. As he was dressing up, about to leave, Marie said something so simple, but it took a special place in Albert's brain. She wanted to live the rest of her life with him.
When Albert gets back home, Rita, his stay-at-home wife, was cooking dinner for the pair, just like she did for the past 10 years. She didn't love her husband anymore, but the conservative government reigning over Québec in the 50's was really strict concerning divorces, so Rita continues with her life, trying to find little things that could make her happy. Albert smelled sex, just like last week. She knows he's seeing someone else. Québec City was full of girls trying to find a man to live their life with and Albert being one of the best jeweler in the city, he always gathers attention wherever he goes. They argue again about their life, as she claims that he should be around more often and he replies that she should show more love towards her husband and he asks her again why she's not pregnant. She answers by saying that they haven't fornicated together in at least two years, well since, he's seeing that other, mysterious girl. Albert denies that he's having an affair.
The following day, after Albert spent the night sleeping on the uncomfortable couch in the living room, he goes to work in his jewelry store. Guy (David Harbour)'s already there. They start talking about what happened last night in Albert's house. Marie arrives and kisses Albert. Guy wasn't shocked about it, he knew his friend was cheating on his wife. She asked her lover if he thought about she said to him yesterday and he answered that he it was all he could think about last night. They kiss again and she leaves to go to work, in the restaurant across the street. Guy asks his friend what Marie asked him and he says that she suggested that he divorces his wife and spend the rest of his life with her. Guy tells him that it could be a great idea, as he never saw his friend being as happy as he was when Marie entered the store, happier than he ever was with Rita. Albert says he has a better idea. Denise (Kate Winslet), Guy's wife comes in. As she's coming in, she hears the men talking about killing someone and she immediately asks them if she heard them correctly and Guy tells his wife that it's exactly what they said, Albert wants to kill his wife.
During his lunch break, Albert goes to the bank to get a life insurance on his wife. He agrees with the bank on a $10,000 life insurance, a considerable amount of money for the time and he leaves. In the meantime, Guy goes to the local hardware store to buy dynamite (still available to everyone back then) , claiming he wants to clear a field. Denise, who took money directly from the store's safe, buys an empty field, claiming she wants to build her house on it. They all go back to the store and they all notice that their plan is going exactly as Albert planned.
The evening has come and everyone goes back home, except Guy who remains at the store to complete the next step of the plan. Albert goes back to his wife and once again they find a way to argue. He then tells his wife that she should go away for a couple of days, as they would both benefit of a couple of days away from each other. He suggests to her a paid trip to the gorgeous Charlevoix region in the north of Quebec. Wanting to escape her miserable life for a while, she accepts. Albert smiles and calls a travel agency to book his wife a trip.
Rita is carrying her luggage in the airport, Albert isn't with her as he had something important to tend to at the store. That's alright, she thought, she hated him anyway. Last night, all she could dream about were the ways that she could try to have a divorce, but the government will never allow one. While Rita's waiting, Denise goes to the airport with a wrapped package. She passes the security clearance rather easily, which was the custom at the time. When asked what's in the box, she says it's a jewel to be delivered in Charlevoix directly from Albert's store and she vehemently denies a request to open the package. She leaves and gets in Guy's car. Denise asks where Albert is, when she notices he's missing and her husband tells her that he went to the bathroom. Albert comes in the airport running, wanting to say goodbye to his wife. He arrives when they call the passengers in and they share a loveless hug and Albert looks at her go away. He gets back in his friend's car and they drive away.
After they stopped at the store, Albert took a taxi the reach the Quebec Observatory. He gets there at the right time, everything is going according to the schedule. When he looks in a telescope, he notices the plane just took off, they missed the take-off time. He starts to sweat, but he's confident it's going to work anyway. As the plane flies over Cape Torment, near the St-Lawrence River, it explodes, instantly killing the passengers and destroying the plane. Guy's timed-bomb worked, the only problem was that it was supposed to sink in the St-Lawrence, not land at Cape Torment. With mixed feelings, Albert goes to see Maria to celebrate.
Detective Dumas (John Goodman) leads the investigation regarding the plane bombing. After he looked at the airport, he was able to learn the names of the 23 victims. He questioned the airport security chief and an analysis concluded that a bomb made of dynamite exploded on the plane. It took him no time to learn that a peculiar lady came to deliver a package in the name of Albert's jewelry store. At first, he thought that Albert didn't have anything to do with the bombing since his wife was on-board, but after he found out that he collected a three days-old life insurance after his wife died, he came to the conclusion that Albert did it. When he went in to arrest Albert, he was in-bed with his lover Marie, furthering Dumas' theory that Albert wanted his wife dead.
The incident attracted a lot of media attention, being the first time in history a plane bombing was solved in America. After his arrest, Albert claimed he did it alone, but further investigation proved that Guy and Denise were on it too. They hired the notoriously cocky Ontarian lawyer John Adams (Michael Keaton) to defend them. After the court had a hard time to find a jury, the trial was delayed indefinitely. The time in detention was hard for Guy, who suffered from osseous tuberculosis, was confined to a wheelchair. Finally, Judge LaFleur (David Strathairn) scheduled a date for the awaited trial, with slightly inexperienced lawyer Andre Roy (Christian Slater) representing the victims.
During the trial, Albert had practically nothing to say to try to prove he wasn't guilty, so he tried his best to prove his friends were innocent. Denise claimed she was dead certain the package she carried contained a jewel, while Guy claimed the bomb would be used to clear a newly bought field by Albert who wanted a build himself a new house on it. The judge and the jury were not impressed by their defense strategy suggested by Adams and so was the now worldwide media members who covered the trial. It lasted two weeks and in the end, the three of them were found guilty.
All three convicted criminals were sentenced to death by hanging. Since the Quebec gallow was dismenteled a couple of years ago, the execution was set to be carried in Montreal, which allowed even more media coverage. Two days later, Albert, Denise and Guy, still in his wheelchair, were transported to the gallows were tons of people were watching. When they were asked if they have any last words, Guy and Denise stayed speechless and Albert initially declined. However, when he was about to die and everyone was silent, Albert screamed his last words at the top of his lungs : At least I die famous!
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