Breaking and Entering
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Movie Reviews of Breaking and Entering
Movie Review: Serendipity and the Resulting Emotional Changes
Summary: 5 Stars
Anthony Minghella is an artist of distinction. His current successful role as writer and director of BREAKING AND ENTERING once again demonstrates how subtlety and economy can enhance the impact of a well-devised and well-paced strange story, leaving the viewer with a true sense of dramatic climax and awe. This is one of those under the radar films that is as fine as any before the public in the past year.
Will Francis (Jude Law) is a successful landscape architect who with his partner Sandy (Martin Freeman) has just begun a 'community restoration' project in the down and out King's Crossing area of London. Housed in an old building in that area from which the project will develop, they work with the finest of computers and business equipment - an easy target for locals to vandalize. Will lives with the Swedish American Liv (Robin Wright Penn) and her autistic young daughter Bea (Poppy Rogers) in a relationship that after 10 years has grown stale: the friction results in retreating into silence instead of communication. After two burglaries at the business occur, thefts that include Will's own laptop with all of his personal data, Will and Sandy begin nightly watches, hoping to catch the thieves. In this seedy area Will befriends an immigrant hooker Oana (a brilliant Vera Farmiga) while Sandy defends an accused cleaning girl immigrant Erika (Caroline Chikezie) until the two see two young boys breaking and entering on night. The lads are teenage Bosnian immigrants, good kids who are going with the flow of finding the means of survival in London. The boys, Miro (Rafi Gavron) and Zoran (Ed Westwick), escape the chase, though Will's pursuit results in his discovering Miro's home in the projects. Knowing that Miro's mother Amira (Juliette Binoche) takes in tailoring, Will drops off a jacket to be mended and is attracted to the beautiful unattached Amira with whom he gradually begins an affair.
Meanwhile Liv is in therapy with Rosemary (Juliet Stevenson) and attempts to include resistant Will in hopes of healing their domestic chaos. Their relationship is on the brink of dissolution, both adults are fatigued by the management of Bea, a situation which encourages Will to increase his participation in Bea's care, a decision which leads to an accident for Bea at Will's place of work. Eventually Miro and Zoran are captured by the police (Ray Winstone) and Amira is so devastated by the possible incarceration of her son that she takes measures with Will to secure herself. It is the manner in which the 'crime' by the boys triggers the breaking and entering of each of the lives, crippled by shells of defense, which serves as the sensitive resolution of the story.
The cast is perfection, providing plum roles for Law, Binoche, Penn, Farmiga, Winstone, Freeman and newcomer Gavron, each creating credible characters who though with less than pure lives completely drawn our empathy. Minghella's story is important and entertaining and the filming techniques are bold and innovative. Gabriel Yared provides yet another beautiful musical score and the added featurettes are informative - far better than the usual DVD fillers. A superb film, this. Grady Harp, May 07
Movie Review: Better Than You've Probably Heard.
Summary: 5 Stars
Anthony Minghella has spent the last 10 years of his career making films based on books. And he's showed a knack for it. First, "The English Patient" won Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Then "The Talented Mr. Ripley" became one of the best films of that year and picked up some Oscar nominations. Finally, "Cold Mountain" was nominated for more Golden Globes than any other film and got Renee Zellweger an Oscar. "Breaking and Entering" is the first film I've seen by Minghella based on an original screenplay and it's weaker than his previous films. It's no wonder though, because it's completely different material. "The English Patient" was a big epic that brought to mind films like "Lawrence of Arabia," while "Cold Mountain" was a war film/melodrama with big, expensive-looking scenes. In scope, this film most resembles "The Talented Mr. Ripley" but even that's a stretch. I would never guess this was a Minghella film from watching it. It takes place in modern day London, is very low on plot, and is very low-key. I loved it though. Jude Law plays Will, an architect who lives with his girlfriend of ten years Liv (Robin Wright Penn) and her autistic daughter Bea. Will has recently moved his office to the ghetto of London and on the very first day, it's broken into by very talented teenaged thieves. One of them is Miro (Rafi Gayron); the Bosnian son of a tailor named Amira (Juliette Binoche) who has no idea what her son is doing. After the first break-in, Will is confident that it won't happen again. Alas, Miro and his gang come back and Will decides to neglect his family even more by spying on his office. Finally, he manages to follow Miro home and becomes a client of Amira's in order to find out more about her son. Pretty soon, their relationship blossoms into a love affair. This could all be soap opera, but Minghella's smart script causes it to rise above the average melodrama. The title is a metaphor, which even the dumbest moviegoer will notice because Law's character is obsessed with metaphors and frequently talks about them. Despite strong performances by it's leads, including smaller roles from Ray Winstone and Martin Freeman (from "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"); It's Vera Farmiga ('The Departed') that really steals the show. She plays a prostitute named Oana, who materializes at Will's car as he spies on his building and begins spying along with him until she suddenly disappears. She's in the film so briefly and her character disappears (along with something belonging to Will) for so long that it's amazing we remember her at all. Especially since, at first, her character seems unnecessary. It's later that we realize she just hammers Minghella's metaphor into the ground a little further. "Breaking and Entering" is an unexpectedly satisfying drama that should've received more attention than it did. A film that can truly be called "underrated."
GRADE: A-
Movie Review: OUTSTANDING!!! (beware spoilers)
Summary: 5 Stars
Just watched this movie last week during Jakarta Int'l Film Festival (JIFFEST) 2006. I wasn't sure at first, as I chose this movie only because Jude Law and Juliette Binoche were in it.
Jude Law and Robin Wright-Penn played as a non-married couple, living with Penn's teenage-autis daughter in UK (I think it was London). If I recalled correctly, Law & Penn been a couple for around 10 years. Law worked as an architect, while Penn stayed as a housemother, taking care of her daughter.
Problem came when some burglars broke into Law's office and stole many computers. Among them was a laptop with so many Law's personal files. One of the burglar was a young boy with some remarkable acrobatic abilities. First he took a peek from the rooftop to see door security passwords, broke the very high window-ceiling, enter the warehouse very fast with his acrobatic skills, turned off the alarm, entered the password, the door opened, and his gang entered. And this burglary happened twice! From Law's laptop, the boy explored the excitement of being an architect.
After the second burglary, Law waited outside to catch the burglar, in case the burglar will try the third time. He succedded and followed the boy to his house. There Law saw his lovely mother, Juliette Binoche, a Bosnian-native who ran away from her homeland and left her Serbian husband. It was Law's intention to know if this family was actually an honest family, based on his opinion that Binoche looked as a nice and honest person.
The story goes on. Law maintained his loving relationship with Penn and her troubled daughter. The police were tracking down the burglars and found some clues. Law and Binoche were getting closer to an affair.
Problem came when the police discovered the boy's responsible for the burglary. What would Law do? Should he testify against the boy, losing Binoche who probably his soulmate, and jeopardize his long-time and loving relationship with Penn?
The movie runs for 2 hours. In the first hour, I couldn't predict where the movie was going. But when Bincohe showed up, everything beginning to shine. Law, Wright-Penn & Binoche acting were very good. I love them all. If you're familiar with Binoche's movies, then you know she has that magic. Oh yes, I forgot, she did some nude scenes in Breaking and Entering.
Movie Review: A very touching movie
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a drama about how sometimes loving someone is just not enough and how quite often we sabotage our own lives and happiness. While not the most action packed movie, it shines mostly in its simple and non-flashy or over dramatic expression.
All of the characters in this movie are wounded or damaged by life somehow and are both lashing out and trying to heal the best way they know how, even if it causes them to make poor choices. The minor characters as well. Even though they all go about hurting each other by giving into their own personal needs, there is redemption at the end as the right thing is done, leaving us feeling hope for these people.
I thought this movie was very well done and it touched me deeply. I felt that all of the actors, most particularly Law and Binoche, showed a depth of understanding for their characters' angst. I've not seen Jude Law in anything else, but I felt that he did justice to and was totally believable as a man who deeply loves his woman, yet cannot find a way to connect to her, while at the same time feeling deeply for Amira, someone who is very vulnerable in her need to protect her son.
Binoche did a wonderful job of expressing her character's anguish over wanting to feel that someone really cares for her, and yet not trusting that she's not being used at the same time.
Robin Wright Penn basically showed one look through out the film- sad hurt. However, it fit her character totally as her suffering is caused by being stoic.
Rafi Gavron was especially good as the boy who is torn between his true essentially good being, and following the path his uncle has set for him as maybe an only choice for a Bosnian refugee living in England.
I really loved this film. I have a thing for plain stories about every day lives of every day people who are faced with normal conflicts and dilemmas and how they deal with them. This movie was that and more.
Movie Review: "You Give Liberals A Bad Name"
Summary: 5 Stars
I think the reason a lot critics dismissed this brilliant film was because it gave liberals a bad name. If it was the other way around then they probably would've liked it a lot more. To me, Will (Jude Law) was the main character. He is what you would call a liberal (although not all liberals are as dysfunctional as he is). He has idealistic notions but is incapable of acting them out. He is a coward or weakling. That is precisely why he has been a ten-year relationship with a woman. It isn't because that's his choice--it's because he doesn't have the guts to ask her to marry him or break up with him. Likewise, he doesn't have the guts to report a burgular to the cops. Even when a mother begs him to help her keep her son out of prison--what does he tell her: "I can't get involved because then everything will come out." I think the reason he is a coward is because he wants everyone to like him and is afraid to create waves. As a result, he feels guilty about it all, which makes him want people to like him even more. I felt this film did a terrific job analyzing the insecurities of humanity.