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MOVIE REVIEW: Breaking In

Garth Cremona (RIP)

Thriller starring Gabby Union and Billy Burke.  After the death of her estranged Father Union has to travel to the countryside to his mansion.  Her Father was a high-flying rich businessman who had been involved in some shady deals.  Just wanting to get the estate sale over with she has to go to this mansion, with her two children, and sort through the boxes and such.  With her Husband busy it’s hard to go back and deal with the remnants of the strained relationship.  There are four men  who want something in the house, and will stop at nothing to get what they came for, even if it means killing the two children.

Gabrielle Union has to be one of the most underused and underrated actresses of her generation, I don’t know what it is, or may if she’s annoyed the wrong people through her career, but I like watching her on-screen.  We get to see very little of her here in Ireland.  So when the first few TV spots popped up on my radar for Breaking In it looked as though a new series of films were going to be open to her.  What I got from the ads is that she was some form of ex SEAL type MMA fighter who will protect her children no matter the cost.  It’s all lies I tell thee, lies!

What Breaking In is, when we scrub it down to the core, is a basic thriller.  That is the most disappointing thing that I could imagine.  I wanted her character Shaun to have some form of back story that showed her kicking ass and taking names, but in her own words she’s just a mother, and that is the biggest let down.  The trailers that I’ve watched after the film, as I don’t watch them before hand, give you the impression she’s the secret badass of the world, but there is nothing.

As a basic thriller it’s fine, it’s like a 90’s style thriller that you’d watch once and be happy with, then never give it another moment of your time.  Billy Burke plays the leader of the group of men who are all pretty much stereotypical bad guys.  The Mexican bad guy is really the big problem where he’s like every other villain, excessively violent straight away for no reason, fine I can manage that, but there is a change near the end when he goes from plain old violent criminal to a sexual predator.  Burke feels like he’s sleepwalking through his lines and actions, I guess he’s going through the motions again, like those teen vampires movies.  The children in the film aren’t annoying, and that is major bonus, as there are a lot of films lately where the child actors have been a pain the backside.

While Breaking In is a fine thriller once you get over being mislead by the marketing machine and the basic framework of the single dimension characters it’s not going to be up there with the great white knuckle rides that a thriller should be.  I shouldn’t have fingernails left after a thriller, but here I was counting the minutes until I could get the Cork train home.  I’m glad that I got to see Ms. Union on the silver screen and hope that I get to see her in something better down the line.  Billy Burke I really can take or leave his one note acting.  Thrillers should leave you with your heart beating faster, nail-biting tension does that, here a Mother is locked out of a house and her children are left inside with the villains.  Nothing new is gained and yet it’s not offensive to the genre which is why it’s on the middle of the road spectrum of scores.  As with everything you’re going to make your own mind up.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Director: James McTeigue
Writer: Ryan Engle
Stars: Gabrielle Union, Billy Burke, Richard Cabral | See full cast & crew

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Garth Cremona (RIP)
Comic book creator and movie reviewer. You can find out more at www.dublinwriter.com
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