Weepy. Rich people morals.
Breaking and Entering (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:121
Fresh:41
Rotten:80
Average Rating:5.2/10
Consensus: This class warfare drama feels contrived and superficial: characters don’t act logically as the movie manipulates them towards deconstructing various social issues.
Theatrical Release:Dec 15, 2006 Limited
Box Office: $880,510
Synopsis: BREAKING AND ENTERING may lack the quality and scope of Anthony Minghella's previous work such as THE ENGLISH PATIENT and COLD MOUNTAIN, but it's an interesting, character-driven drama. Jude Law... BREAKING AND ENTERING may lack the quality and scope of Anthony Minghella's previous work such as THE ENGLISH PATIENT and COLD MOUNTAIN, but it's an interesting, character-driven drama. Jude Law (CLOSER) plays Will, a landscape architect who succeeds in business but finds his personal life is tougher to navigate. He has been with Liv (Robin Wright Penn, FORREST GUMP) for years, but it's difficult to connect with her due to her worry over her teenage daughter. When Will catches a teenage boy named Miro (Ravi Gafron) breaking into his office, he chases the thief home. He later meets the boy's mother, a Bosnian refugee played by Juliette Binoche (CHOCOLAT). His anger at Miro is quickly transformed into attraction to his mother, further complicating his relationship with Liv. This is Law's third teaming with Minghella (after THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY and COLD MOUNTAIN), and their partnership rewards the audience with a typically good performance from the actor. Wright Penn and Binoche also display the talent people have come to expect, but it's the supporting cast that shines here. As Will's business partner, Sandy, Martin Freeman plays second fiddle to Law, but he possesses a similar charm as his character on THE OFFICE. As a persistent prostitute, Vera Farmiga (THE DEPARTED) is one of the movie's highlights, providing laughter in what is largely a very bleak film. Gavron is a capable young actor as Miro, but his performance is most astonishing for his skills at the sport of parkour, a kind of urban acrobatics on display throughout the film. If only these characters were half as adept at life and relationships as Gavron is at leaping from building to building.... [More]
Starring: Jude Law, Juliette Binoche, Robin Wright Penn, Martin Freeman
Starring: Jude Law, Juliette Binoche, Robin Wright Penn, Martin Freeman, Ray Winstone, Vera Farmiga, Rafi Gavron, Poppy Rogers
Director: Anthony Minghella
Director: Anthony Minghella
Producer: Timothy Bricknell
Composer: Gabriel Yared
Studio: MGM
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Reviews for Breaking and Entering
Minghella gives the impression that, underneath all the sludge, he has something very important to say, but this never makes itself clear.
It's a smart film, but like much of Minghella's output, it is too polite to grip.
It doesn't have the kind of flair, impact or resonance we've come to expect from the director.
A close-up of two disparate families in current-day London, Breaking and Entering lacks the heart and emotional warmth needed to tell the story of betrayal and its effects on loved ones.
When Vera Farmiga shows up as a ridiculous Romanian prostitute, we want to give her money just so she'll remain onscreen and continue to flash her chest and her phony accent and offer at least the promise of titillation.
[Minghella has] simply traded the turgid solemnity of the period epic for the turgid solemnity of the indie drama.
Perhaps the kindest way to describe Anthony Minghella's Breaking and Entering is to say it's evident as being broken fairly early during the proceedings.
For all its Bergmanesque agonizing, the film never digs too far under the surface. It fails to break and enter.
Despite its arty construction and clever dialogue, Breaking and Entering leaves us too chilly to care.
Minghella raises social issues his film may not be providing answers for... or, less than acceptable ones.
A thought-provoking and ethically-charged film that greatly expands our moral understanding of the act of stealing.
Un drama urbano muy contemporáneo que explora superficialmente ciertas realidades sociales, pero que presta más atención a las crisis domésticas de sus personajes. Podría haber sido mucho más interesante.
The fact that three major characters are named 'Will,' 'Liv' and 'Bea' should indicate Minghella's commitment to subtlety.
A betrayal of a dedicated cast and a middlebrow demographic that deserves better than this handsome, pedagogical tongue bath whether it asks for it or not.
Minghella raises some interesting questions on the subject of exile — whether from one's country, family, ethnic identity or self. But his conclusions feel pious and pat.
Benoît Delhomme's cool cinematography and a truly lovely score, by Underworld's Karl Hydem, Rick Smith and Gabriel Yared, are the film's biggest assets.
Latest News for Breaking and Entering
March 18, 2008:
Anthony Minghella: A Tomatometer Retrospective
English filmmaker Anthony Minghella had a sparse but critically acclaimed career by the time of his passing today at the age of 54. We turn to the six films Minghella directed,... More...
March 18, 2008:
Anthony Minghella: 1954-2008
Anthony Minghella, the Oscar-winning director of The English Patient, The Talented Mr. Ripley, and Cold Mountain, has passed away at the age of 54. More...
July 30, 2007:
Frank Miller Faults Weinsteins for Sin City 2 Delay
While sitting on a Comic Con panel, Frank Miller was asked about the hold-up on Sin City 2. (Numerous times, probably.) And it looks like the celebrated author / artist /... More...
March 28, 2007:
"Indy 4" Casts Winstone as New Sidekick
Increasingly busy character actor Ray Winstone has joined the cast of the fourth "Indiana Jones" installment, due in theaters May 2008. More...
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