A good watch on an afternoon/evening on TV when there’s nothing else on.
Synopsis: Gabrielle Union stars as a woman who will stop at nothing to rescue her two children being held hostage in a house designed with impenetrable security. No trap, no trick and especially no man inside can match a mother with a mission when she is determined on Breaking In. (Universal Pictures)
Starring: Gabrielle Union, Billy Burke, and Richard Cabral
Writer: Ryan Engle
Director: James McTeigue
Rating: 14A (Canada)/PG-13 (United States)
Running Time: 88mins
Trailer:
For showtimes and more, check out Breaking In on movietimes.com.
This film is the epitome of mindless, however, it was still kind of entertaining to watch. Everybody probably knows what it’s about based on the title and the film is better when it focuses on this and not when it tries to make it out as something more. There was more going on but it was just hard to care since all the characters are severely underdeveloped. In its essence, the film is about a mother named Shaun (Union) who is trying to save her children named Jasmine (Ajiona Alexus) and Glover (Seth Carr) that were held hostage in a fortress of a house from a group of thieves led by a man named Eddie (Burke).
While the characters are underdeveloped, a mother wanting to save her children is something that it easy to understand but like in other films, that also makes her some sort of an action star, biding her time and plotting a plan of attack. Despite being predictable every step of the way, it was still okay to watch, however, it would have better if the level of her competition was better. Though Shaun obviously had to look good, the thieves did next to nothing while waiting to be attacked. The film’s 14A/PG-13 rating keeps it from going where it should have gone because we got was tame. On a side note, the choppy editing was distracting at times, especially during action sequences.
Shaun’s back and forth with the thieves became dull very quickly as the sense of danger slowly dissipated over time. The twists and turns added up until there were a few too many by the end. This was a relatively short film, clocking in at just under 90 minutes, but at times seemed longer. The story lagged in the middle while Shaun’s repertoire felt repetitive very fast since there was only so much she could do. The story rushes by going straight to the house and the kids being taken, however, it would have been better served spending some time with the family beforehand and to better set the scene.
The dialog and the acting was cheesy at best but what kept the film watchable were Union and Burke. Union as Shaun was compelling to watch as the desperate mother, however, this was tempered by her lack of competition. Though she was crafty, the film went about it in a very contrived way. Burke as Eddie was also compelling to watch as Shaun’s cunning and menacing adversary. They were great together, however, we didn’t get nearly enough of them together.
Overall, this was a mindless yet watchable home invasion thriller and not the worst way to spend 90 minutes thanks to the performances from Gabrielle Union and Billy Burke.
Score: 5/10
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The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.