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12981 |
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(4256) |
7165 |
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5816 |
13037 |
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Plot:
Professionally, things could not be better for Will (Law), but personally he spends less and less time at home with his chronically depressed partner (Wright Penn) and their troubled 13 year-old daugh...( read more 
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Breaking and Entering Recent Reviews
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Recent Reviews
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MCT:October 15, 2008"You steal someone's heart, that's really a crime."
It's quite a treat (particularly these days) to watch a film and not be able to guess how it will end; where the decisions the characters reach come after they have considered their options, weighed the alternatives, and know what they're getting into. Breaking and Entering is like that, and though it's not a wholly successful film, it's deeply felt, intelligent, and contains fine work by its cast, especially the great Juliette Binoche.
The story: Jude Law plays Will, an architect in London beginning a massive project of neighbourhood revitalization. At home, his wife Liv (Robin Wright Penn) is struggling to deal with her troubled daughter and her increasingly estranged relationship with Will, who for his part is concerned, has other things on his mind. "If it were a contest to love her more," he tells her, "I'd let you win."
One night, a burglar breaks into Will's office and steals the equipment (it must've cost Apple a pretty penny to have the characters bemoan how easy their lost computers were to use). This thief is Miro (Rafi Gavron), a second-generation Bosnian teenager who works as a "monkey" for a local gang, breaking and entering into buildings with his uncanny acrobatic ability. Anthony Minghella (the brilliant man behind The English Patient and The Talented Mr. Ripley), milks these scenes for all they're worth, shooting them in single takes, and almost convincing us that Gavron is actually performing them.
When Miro breaks into the office a second time, Will begins staking it out to catch him, along with his friend and co-worker Sandy (Martin Freeman). One night he almost does, following him home and meeting his mother, Amira (Juliette Binoche), who works as a tailor. Will, understandably, is attracted to her, and starts finding excuses to see her. He doesn't mention that he knows Miro is a thief, and Miro, who has kept Will's laptop (I think it was a Mac) eventually looks through the pictures, and learns his connection to Will.
That's all you get of the plot from me, though I will say that, having seen hundreds of films in my short lifetime, and knowing a lot of the tricks, I was still surprised by this one. That's what I liked about it. The performances are strong (though Penn's character doesn't quite work), the photography is beautiful, but what really elevates the film is how mature it is, how the characters consider their options, work to save themselves, but don't feel right about it. Nonetheless, I would've liked one more turn of the knife at the end. There is a moment that is like a Mexican stand-off cliché in an action film, where everyone is pointing a gun at someone, and everyone has one pointed at them. Here, everyone's lives could be destroyed in an attempt to save their own, and maybe I'm just being cynical, but I think someone would've shot.
The film does falter in its third act. It lets people off easy, and raises tough questions, only to dismiss them with easy answers. There are a few distractions I could've done without (instead of the sub-plots about the cleaning woman or prostitute, I would've liked to have seen more with Amira's friend, who only appears for one scene but whose actions are filled with dramatic potential). All in all though, this is still an engaging and surprisingly thrilling film, that's all the more special for being Minghella's farewell work. He will be missed. -
MCT:April 30, 2008
good movie, not great, kinda slow but funny at times.
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MCT:February 21, 2008no interest.
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MCT:September 12, 2007
Beautifully filmed, great dialogue, great acting but far-fetched story line and maybe a few too many metaphors. The special features section of the DVD, where the director and cast speak about the movie, is a must see afterwards!
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MCT:August 12, 2007poop
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MCT:October 23, 2008
A typical British TV drama with an ultimately pointless story, but pleasant enough to watch. The London settings and brief bits of parkour add interest.
Comments
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blacktoptrafficposted 667 days ago -
