Breaking and Entering Reviews

• 4 1/2 - Minghella's Portrait of a Couple at the "Breaking" Point

  
  By A3M2WW0PO34B94 on 2006-12-21
  Imagine if all you ever ate was a steady diet of McDonalds or Burger King and all of a sudden, you had a meal at a really nice restaurant like `Panache' in Newport, Oregon? Your system would probably go into shock.
  
  "Breaking and Entering", the new film from director Anthony Minghella ("The English Patient") - well, that just cost the film a number of tickets - is a strange and unusual film. I liked the film, but I'm not sure if I enjoyed the film, because the journey is authentic, painful and believable.
  
  Will (Jude Law) and Sandy (Martin Freeman, the British version of "The Office") are two architects working on a major urban renewal project in the King's Cross section of London. The area, best known as a place to get prostitutes and/ or drugs, is unsafe and ready for such a project. Will and Sandy move their offices into a nearby vacant warehouse. As Will and Liv (Robin Wright Penn), his girlfriend of ten years, deal with her behaviorally challenged thirteen year old daughter, Will has to deal with constant burglaries at his new office. One night, he spots Miro (Rafi Gavron) trying to break into the building. He chases Miro to his run down apartment block and watches as he returns home to his mother, Amira (Juliette Binoche), a Bosnian immigrant who makes a living tailoring clothes. Soon, Will `meets' Amira and they begin an affair. And Amira learns Will holds the key to her son's future. How far will this mother go to protect her son?
  
  "Breaking and Entering" is a very interesting film, but it is almost entirely character driven. This is not a bad thing, but when you consider most of the films we are exposed to be story or action driven, it is a bit of a shock to the system. It takes some adjustment to get used to the mechanics of the film and settle in for the story.
  
  Another problem is the film's trailer paints the story as a thriller, like a game of cat and mouse occurs during the affair, like Binoche is prepared to dump some boiled rabbits into Penn's cooking pots. It is nothing like this and a bit misleading to sell the film in this way. But let's move beyond that misguided effort.
  
  That said, Minghella creates some of the most believable, interesting characters these actors have ever played. It is almost painful to watch them on their journey. Each of the characters makes decisions affecting how their lives will play out, or change and these decisions and actions affect the story. The characters aren't reacting to the story. They are changing it.
  
  Jude Law's Will is a complex character and the actor's best role in a while. Will is absorbed in his work and has been in a relationship for ten years. He seems to be bitter that he and Liv (Penn) have never married and their relationship isn't easy; her 13 year old daughter doesn't sleep or eat properly and seems more than a little autistic, but they have been together for so long, they are a family. She is willing to put up with the long work hours because she recognizes he genuinely loves her.
  
  As he deals with the struggles of his home life, and the lack of affection, he also deals with a large project at work, a new office and more. There is a lot of pressure on Will and he feels he can't turn to Liv, because she has problems of her own.
  
  Then the robberies start at their new office. Sick at losing his personal laptop, with personal photos and documentaries made by Liv, he decides to put a stop to it and stakes out the building at night, determined they will not be robbed a third time.
  
  It would be very easy to make Will one dimensional, but Minghella takes the character to a different place. Because he has so many demands on his life, he recognizes that Miro could get in a lot of trouble. He is also intrigued by Amira and doesn't turn the boy in. One thing leads to another and they begin an affair. These moments, played in concert with examples of his work and his home life, help create a portrait of an upper middle class man living in a major city.
  
  As the story progresses, and Will makes certain choices, his character controls the destiny of his story and affect the rest of the people in his life. The final moments of the film seem very real and natural. Will makes a decision that seems a good fit for his life and his views.
  
  Law portrays the character well. On the one hand, he is distraught and annoyed with his life. On the other, as much as he is fed up with his life, he has a long history with them and truly loves Liv and her daughter, who frequently calls him Dad. This relationship is interesting, painful and hard to watch. One moment, they are fighting about work hours, or dealing with trust issues or some of the girl's problems, the next they are in love. The portrayal is all the more interesting because it seems so real and why it is slightly difficult to watch. Because his character has so much going on, so many internal problems, he seems real and lifelike. It almost feels like we are eavesdropping on his life.
  
  Juliette Binoche is also very good as Amira, mother of Miro. As an immigrant to England, she recognizes the country has a lot to offer her son, but she also recognizes the bad influences in his life and watches sadly as these influences seem to take hold. As she struggles with trying to help him take advantage of his new circumstances, and make a life for their family, she also has to deal with her background, her religion and much more.
  
  Binoche does a great job of making Amira believable, there are so many facets to her character she is intensely interesting. She works at a Muslim community center and attends meetings there, but she is also from Bosnia, as you are probably aware, the two don't work well together. Her husband's brother also lives in London, and is the primary bad influence on Miro, but as he is a Bosnian, he has a hatred for Muslims and can't stand his sister-in-law. She knows this and because of his bad influence, doesn't want him or his son around the house.
  
  It is also interesting to watch Amira do things to try to control the situation. She enters the relationship with Will, because she knows she can control him, to a certain extent, by sleeping with him. Yet, as they have this relationship, we get the sense she is also getting at least some pleasure from the coupling. Can she control her feelings enough to protect her son and her life? Later, she makes a half hearted attempt to black mail Will and this reveals the true extent of her desperation.
  
  Robin Wright Penn plays Liv, Will's Swedish long-term girlfriend. A supporting character, she has at least as many character traits as Will and Amira. She has a behaviorally challenged daughter, she has been in a long term relationship with Will, fears she may no longer love him, etc. It is a testament to Penn's and Minghella's skill that the character has so many different facets, yet seems so natural and lifelike. The role could easily have become as showy as a stage actress working to be heard in the balcony.
  
  Martin Freeman also has some good moments as Sandy, Will's business partner. During all of the problems with the break-ins, he shyly reveals he is attracted to one of the cleaners who clean the office, a black woman whose photograph has become a screensaver on Sandy's computer. When suspicion about the robberies shifts in that direction, Sandy is both hurt by suspicion and defends them, trying to walk a fine line. Later, the depth of the working and personal relationship between the two men is revealed.
  
  Ray Winstone plays the lead detective investigating the case. He quickly has his suspicions about who the culprit is and finds Miro playing soccer in a park. He beckons the kid, who grudgingly hops on the back of his scooter and drives to a nearby park where they talk. As they talk, you get the sense Winstone's character probably had a similar childhood. He wants to help the kid change his ways. Improve his life.
  
  Vera Farmiga ("The Departed", "Running Scared") plays a prostitute with a heavy accent who frequents the area around their new office. She and Will start a casual conversation and she begins to keep him company as he stakes out his office, using his car to keep her warm for a few hours, bringing him coffee, between tricks. Her character is, by far, the least successful in the film. She almost seems designed to provide comic relief and every time she appears on screen it draws you completely out of the universe Minghella has tried so hard to create. Late in the story, she does something which seems completely out of character.
  
  Minghella has created a film with such emotional performances, it is almost difficult to watch. I go to a lot of films and even I was not prepared, it is so different from the majority of the films I go to see and will surely turn many people off. I think this is why many people either love or loathe "The English Patient"; the two films are very similar and present characters in realistic, natural ways. His characters drive the stories, not the other way around.
  
  When you are so used to the other type of film - story or event driven narratives - it is a bit of a shock to the system to actually experience a difference. It is a bit like how your body would react to eating at a fine restaurant after a steady diet of McDonalds.
  
  
  

• OUTSTANDING!!! (beware spoilers)

  
  By ASDZYJXN89NGD on 2006-12-12
  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.
  
  

• Better Than You've Probably Heard.

  
  By A34D06JL7LC6MU on 2007-05-12
  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-
  
  

• "You Give Liberals A Bad Name"

  
  By A13D4E28S63SYF on 2007-05-20
  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.
  
  

• Beautiful, Subtly-Shaded Drama of an Affair...

  
  By A31I3HXMD5H1EL on 2007-10-01
  Director/writer Anthony Minghella's exploration of three lives intertwined by pain, guilt, and loneliness, "Breaking and Entering", benefits by the earnest portrayals of Jude Law, Juliette Binoche, and Robin Wright Penn, a script that never attempts to 'glamorize' the central affair, and Minghella's willingness to allow the story to take it's time to unfold (almost 40 minutes pass before Law and Binoche even meet one another). While the film was unsuccessful in theaters, it is a multi-layered, rewarding experience that deserves a place in your video library!
  
  While the catalyst of the story is a pair of break-ins of Law's offices by Binoche's son (Rafi Gavron), the action serves more as an introduction to the lives of the leads; Binoche is a Bosnian refugee, struggling to provide a stable home for her son, and to save enough money to return the pair to their homeland; Law and Penn are a couple worn down by caring for Penn's autistic daughter (Poppy Rogers), and a growing lack of communication and common interests. When Law tracks the boy to Binoche, he finds himself drawn to the beautiful, reserved widow, but even as he succumbs to his desires, she fiercely protects herself and her son, by taking incriminating nude photos of herself with Law, as he sleeps. There is a jaded understanding of the nature of her existence that is both sad, and understandable; as another Bosnian refugee (Vera Farmiga), reduced to prostitution, explains to Law, survival is the issue, here, not gratification. Indeed, there are no 'villains' in the story, only people struggling to maintain their identities, and dignity.
  
  With wonderful support by Ray Winstone, as a compassionate cop, and Martin Freeman, as Law's bemused partner, and a climax both bittersweet and satisfying, "Breaking and Entering" is a film that actually demands repeated viewings, to appreciate the symbolism of central London's urban decay, and a wild fox in the midst of the construction of an artificial park-like environment.
  
  Certainly, a very rewarding experience!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Serendipity and the Resulting Emotional Changes
  By A328S9RN3U5M68 on 2007-05-13
  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
  
  
• Interesting Performances by Binoche and Law, but Not a Great Film
  By A26BT17SFTKBF on 2007-05-22
  I'm a big fan of Anthony Minghella's work as a director, particularly "The Talented Mr. Ripley." However, with this film, he writes AND directs. Perhaps he should stick to directing and leave the writing to someone who knows a bit more about it.
  
  In sum, the film looks vaguely at: The ways in which modern relationships teeter on the brink of meaninglessness, the manner in which people of different nationalities come into conflict in London, the extent to which deception is a factor in all human interactions, and the ways that people try to avoid anything dangerous and exciting in their lives so as to keep up the status quo.
  
  Unfortunately, the film's various storylines just kind of meander and one never gets to know or care too awfully much for the characters. Having said that, I will add that the performances of Juliette Binoche and Jude Law are outstanding even though the two of them are working with a pretty dumb script. Still, they offer the hook that reels one into the film at times and gives some force to otherwise dreary movie-making.
  
  
  
  
• Really wanted to like this movie.....
  By A3OZPA2Y2SUYX5 on 2007-06-06
  ....especially with the fabulous cast (Jude Law, Juliet Binoche and Robin Wright Penn) and the subject-matter (I read the back of the DVD and was intrigued), but the movie just didn't do it for me. Perhaps I missed something by not being British?
  
  I certainly "got" all of the metaphors and underlying themes...to name a few: a couple reaching the breaking point of their relationship; what holds/binds people together; what people will do for love/family; the socio-cultural integration/interaction of the Kings Cross community; what constitutes "bad acts" ...etc...but just couldn't connect with the characters, their plights, and the storyline which dragged on interminably and really went nowhere. The entire movie I was waiting for something to happen and/or for the film to suddenly engage me and it never did...not even the parts when it was clearly intended to.
  
  I'm still in shock that other reviewers liked and/or connected with this film since everyone I know who has seen this film was thoroughly disappointed.
  
  
• excellent, but maybe one twist too many
  By A34JDD8SBMJZ7C on 2007-06-29
  Renault below wrote a good review. But I differ somewhat. I'm not bothered by the film not fitting into a genre. I just think it might have packed one too many reversals into too short a space. For my taste, this is completely superior to a film like Crash. It's just that the introspection indulged in by the Jude Law character and Robin Wright Penn feels a little phony, and I grew tired of her character. The final scene between the Jude Law character and Penn was a bit annoying, but overall, the film was excellent. All the minor supporting characters were an absolute pleasure.
  
  This was a find. I don't like movies where characters act "logically", i.e. predictably.
  
  First rate score. Added a lot. (my line of work, so I know.)
  
  
• Intriguing story marred by some careless direction
  By ABN5K7K1TM1QA on 2007-08-13
  Anthony Minghella, who won an Oscar for The English Patient (1996), wrote and directed this interesting film starring Jude Law as an architect who gets involved with a Bosnian ex-pat (Juliette Binoche) and her son. I found it mostly satisfying, but somehow unconvincing. The fact that Jude Law is a few years younger than either Robin Wright Penn, who played his wife Liv, or Binoche who played Amira was not the problem. What bothered me was the incompleteness of Will Francis's character. To make this work, Will had to be a philandering sort of guy who this time gets involved in something more than the usual sexcapade. We need to see Will fooling around before he gets involved with Amira, otherwise his insistence on quick sex with an exotic woman just doesn't make sense. Not only that but the lesson he presumably learns from the experience is not as compelling.
  
  And as much as I admire Juliette Binoche I really thought her character could have been spiced up a bit. She needs to look more exotic and to have a kind of saucy streak above the straight-laced mother and seamstress role she is forced to play. We needed to see her as sexually frustrated, yes, but also as someone who is awakened by being made love to by Jude Law! For some reason Minghella underplayed this possibility. I think she should have just gone bananas over Will, and that would have created the kind of emotional conflict that allowed her to feel guilt about arranging to have the photos taken of her and Will in bed together. Although this was blackmail for her son, it was--or should have been--a betrayal of love. Instead of exuding such a goody-goody persona, Amira should have projected a more compromised person, someone who would cynically sleep with a guy and conspire to photograph him in a compromised position instead of first asking him if he would help her son.
  
  There were some schlocky details that Minghella did not pay enough attention to that detract from the effectiveness of the film. First, it is not clear why Will should be able to sleep so soundly in the afternoon in adulterous bed of Amira's friend that her friend can enter and take a dozen or so shots of him with Amira moving around on the bed in different poses. I kept expecting to see something showing us he was drugged!
  
  The fact that the police detective befriended the boy was okay. Cops sometimes do that sort of thing. They like to play big brother (in a positive way), but I could not believe that Will would refuse to help Amira's son when she is literally on her knees begging him! Minghella played it in this artificial way so as to set up the climactic scene when Will and Liv arrive together at the hearing. In real life Will could not say no when Amira is begging him because (1) he does want to help the boy, (2) she still has the power to embarrass Will and his wife even though she has given him the incriminating photo negatives, (3) it is totally out of character for him to suddenly care so much about the affair coming out, and (4) he immediately confesses it to his wife anyway.
  
  In the scene when Will returns to his wife after the stakeout smelling of the prostitute's perfume, we have Liv smelling it, and then when he opts for a shower, she pulls him close for immediate sex. I think he should have explained it. After all, he was not involved with the prostitute. He rejected her and that would be believable. In fact in his place I couldn't resist talking about this strange prostitute (played very enticingly by Vera Farmiga in a bit part). It would be interesting. Apparently Minghella was making some point by having Liv want to have sex with him immediately; however that was never developed. We are left imagining that the perfume or the thought of her husband with a prostitute somehow aroused her, which seems unlikely, but if that was the case, it needed to be developed.
  
  Why the robbers would come back to the scene of the crime a third time to commit yet the same crime in the same manner is beyond, I would think, the reach of most of the world's dumbest criminals, and these guys weren't that dumb.
  
  And there were some dangling strings: why DID the prostitute steal his car and then return it? Why was the boy so lost and then suddenly so repentant and seemingly on the right track? This was underdeveloped.
  
  The scene with the autistic daughter Bea at Will's workplace was played so heavy-handedly that we knew what was going to happen before it happened--and what was the point? By the way, her relationship with Will was also not fully developed. (Perhaps Minghella's script was too demanding for the director!)
  
  I am sorry to be so critical but this could have been an outstanding movie, and I get irritated when directors go to print so quickly. Minghella is never going to be a great director until he takes a page from Stanley Kubrick's book and polishes every scene and irons out the wrinkles. As it is, Breaking and Entering is a pretty good film, and certainly no Jude Law fan should miss it.
  
  
• A DIFFERENT TYPE OF MOVIE
  By AV7FSURN9LDOM on 2007-04-29
  I liked this film because it was entertaining and it was different than most films you see today. I thought the acting was good and the story was great. I almost didn't see this movie because the reviews were not that great, but it is a type of movie that makes you think, which is cool!
  
  
• Better than expected
  By A5BTGONE3ESOU on 2007-06-08
  This movie is better than I expected based on the Trailer and other reviews. It is a good film about relationships and how we tend to lose sight of who we are in relationship to others, especially close relationships. It reflects we need to keep present in relationships; or face the prospect of losing them. However, on the rare occasion when honesty prevails, there is a chance to re-discover ourselves and our partners in life.
  
  
• Spark of Romance
  By A1IWWRZJOXOSYP on 2007-06-19
  Director Anthony Minghella won his Best Director Oscar 10 years ago for "The English Patient." Both of Jude Law's Oscar nominations came in Minghella collaborations, "Cold Mountain" (2004) & "The Talented Mr. Ripley" (1999). Juliette Binoche's Oscar came in 1996 for "The English Patient." So "Breaking & Entering" is a reunion of sorts.
  
  "Breaking & Entering" is mostly successful. It does seem a bit long with the pacing tending to drag. However, that's the way I experienced "The English Patient"; so perhaps others perceive this as depth. Jude Law's character covers similar territory as "Closer," exploring the tedium of routine vs. the spark of romance. Law has this now familiar wide-eyed startled look like he has no clue what's happening around him. Perhaps he plays similar characters or perhaps it's schtick that is now over-used. But he does carry the film, riveting our interest and fueling audience speculation, even saddled with the character of Will Francis who seems to suffer from chronic indecisiveness.
  
  Juliette Binoche as the relocated widow from Sarajevo does an excellent job as Amira. The scene on the hill where she begs Will to help her son is a powerful screen gem. We understand this woman, who is not too complex, and admire her dedication to her family. The racial/religious prejudice that she confronts with anger makes Amira all the more sympathetic.
  
  Amira's son Miro is played by Rafi Gavron in his first screen role. It's an impressive debut as he hops from rooftop to rooftop and plays at being a gangster that nearly brings his family to ruin. While not overly deep, he does a good with what he's given.
  
  Robin Wright Penn from Unbreakable & "Hurly Burly" seems too fragile as Liv. She is supposed to hold her family together & suffers from coldness & depression. It seems impossible that her character would be able to be so strong. One of the DVD deleted scenes shows her moody by the window that takes her in even more of a fragile direction. There doesn't seem to be a connection between Penn & Law that would make the film conclude as it does. It reads like actors going through the paces.
  
  Other parts are well done. Vera Farmiga from "The Manchurian Candidate" & "The Departed" is excellent as Oana who walks the street. Her gyrating car dance is endearing & provocative. Ed Westwick who was in "Children of Men" plays Zoran, Miro's rooftop hopping buddy. He doesn't have a lot to do, but does it well. Poppy Rogers has been acting since she was six. As the autistic daughter Bea, she does a good job of portraying social maladjustment. Erika, the maid at the office, is given a nice cameo. Played by Caroline Chikezie from "Eragon" & "Aeon Flux," she makes the small part memorable with a total commitment to the character's world. Martin Freeman from "Shaun of the Dead" plays Will's partner Sandy in a routine performance.
  
  B&E works when it does because of the star power of Law & Binoche. Minghella's screenplay is a character study of romance in the modern world. Scenic designs like the Kings Cross office and the rooftop chases perk up an otherwise plodding picture. The film is worth seeing for Law & Binoche. Enjoy!
  
  
  
• Too Many Other Good Things To Do
  By A2JO8RUJARRKQI on 2007-06-21
  Gave this movie forty-five minutes, but it was so slow moving and seemingly pointless -- okay boring -- I gave up. Don't waste your time.
  
  
• Not enough artifice to be 'artfilm'; too much artifice to be 'mainstream.'
  By A18V2GU7SQ21YN on 2007-06-27
  In fact I think the script would be really wonderful as a play - where elegant constructedness is often an asset. Kudos to Minghella as a writer, as there are many (rather obvious but nevertheless enjoyable) points of interest - the complex, metaphor-filled point/counterpoint dynamic for every character (e.g. Liv/Amira on several levels, Will/Miro, Miro/Bea, Oana/fox, Bruno/Dragan, old/new King's Cross... it goes on...) and the ironic plot reversals. But in my opinion, all of this thoughtful artifice Minghella sets up doesn't quite work in a semi-mainstream film that I think means to stay within some bounds of naturalism - or more "natural" than, say, "Crash," which though mainstream clearly means to be at least in part about structure and form.
  
  But it's more intimate (and less preachy) than "Crash." And the characters' inner struggles are really well-conveyed by the actors. Especially Law, doing his usual intense-sincerity-and-charisma thing but doing it well, and the newcomer Rafi Gavron as the emotionally-closed but physically expressive Miro. Binoche is also wonderfully alive, vulnerable, captivating. Wright Penn unfortunately I found a little weak, though maybe only because her intermittent accent (unlike Binoche's) distracted me; but she did look the part in all of its icy 'Scandinavian' depressive interiority. So, the movie is definitely worth watching for its mostly successful performances.
  
  It might even be worth watching for its almost-successes - which I'm guessing as largely directorial (or producer) failures, having to do with the heavy-handed and misplaced artifice mentioned above. And also having to do with its not having a clear idea of what it means to be. Kinda modern Ibsen, but kinda parable. Kinda mainstream-slick (especially the cinematography/production), but kinda too raw for that. Kinda arthouse, but then again, though I don't know anything about its distribution, when Blockbuster has an exclusive on it, it's not exactly squarely in the arthouse, either.
  
  I'm absolutely okay with genre-bending and complexity and even some unsubtle symbolism, if it's intentional and it all works, but I don't think it's either here. Maybe a result of trying to do/say too much and never quite managing to satisfy any one thing. But maybe I'm unfairly exacting too much from Minghella given his masterful "English Patient."
  
  
  
  
• Loved it!
  By A3PMUC6E3QVGE9 on 2007-08-25
  I like a good thriller, which is why I rented the movie in the first place, and while I agree with one other reviewer that it isn't so much a thriller as a...romantic drama?...I was enthralled from beginning to end. The characters are portrayed with so much realism and dimension, I never could anticipate where the film was going to go, which is a very nice change from 99% of movies. Jude Law is more than just a hot guy!
  
  
• Sad to see Minghella and Law go from Ripley to this
  By A1ESNOH683STXS on 2007-09-12
  First of all - let me tell you that I put Talented Mr. Ripley in my top ten movies of all time (yes- a much better film than Purple Noon in my opinion). When I first heard about Cold Mountain, I waited well over a year in sheer excitement at the repairing of these two fantastic filmmakers. Needless to say - the experiment met with Minghella's overambition, Jude Law's horrible southern accent, and Nicole Kidman's incredibly flat performance (especially in comparison to the other females Zellweger and Portman in the film).
  
  Breaking and Entering, sadly, is even more of a letdown than Cold Mountain. Minghella puts all his eggs (meaning time and high quality actors) into a story that just doesn't seem to leave much of an impact on you. And it's a long movie as well.
  
  * Beware of a spoiler here - but there is what is supposed to be a very dramatic scene near the end of the movie where Robin Wright Penn finally realizes her husband is awful (a fact the audience has been aware of for quite a while at this point), explodes on him, and then is far too quickly reconciled with her husband by some cutesy posh Englishman desperation. At this point in the film I felt totally disconnected from these people emotionally and felt the film completely dropped the ball. You just don't buy it, and boy am I glad I saw this film in my monthly Blockbuster package for less than a dollar!
  
  
• Didn't do it for me
  By A32RDQQ47DSMYD on 2007-12-29
  It takes the first 45 minutes before some things starts to happen and then still it feels very stiffled. What came to mind watching this was the book "Unholy Hunger", as it displays very well the feeding happening in human relating on planet Earth. Everyone is feeding on somebody else; sometimes it is mutual feeding and at other times it is distinctly predatorial. Not a pretty sight.
  
  
• Not a complete success, but interesting nonetheless
  By A2SLA0SXRQV8M0 on 2007-05-16
  After winning several Academy Awards through a number of dubious pics (The English Patient, Cold Mountain), English director Anthony Minghella delivers in Breaking and Entering his most personal film. Sure, this tale of a successful architect coming to grips with urban crime is full of liberal self-guilt and some not very believable plot twists and improbable coincidences, but it is still a quite interesting look at modern multicultural London. Jude Law is fine as the architect who starts questioning his life when his recently installed firm in a seedy neighborhood is burglarized by what turns out to be a gang of teenage refugees from the Balkans. Robin Wright Penn is equally fine as his Swedish girlfriend (it doesn't speak ill of her performance that the character appears to be a complicated and unlikable person: I think that's what the film means her to be). Less accomplished is Juliette Binoche's performance: she's a fine and beautiful actress, but just not believable as a Bosnian refugee (and the mother of one of the burglars). An interesting, thought provoking movie about modern urban life in Europe.
  
  
• "Jump"?
  By ALLR8RLF4U200 on 2007-05-19
  Did Minghella copy the video clip of Madonna's last single, street boys hoping from one concrete building to another in a few surburb settings?
  
  That really came across my mind at once when Miro and his cousin first broke in the office...
  
  
• zzzzzzzzzzzzzz..... what there's a movie on... oh sorry.. zzzzzzzzz....
  By A2RFG9LI7JDILS on 2007-05-26
  I hate to be a reviewer who admits he couldn't make it through a movie... but i just couldn't put up with this movie which is supposed to be taken seriously.. I know what your thinking - what right do you have to review a movie when you did not even see the whole thing... you have a point.. but.. as i see it a movie should be interesting all the way through or what is the point of watching? I don't care if it ends well if i cannot make it that far the movie has failed its purpose.. You might enjoy 'breaking and entering' i found it to be a sleeper..
  
  
• a bit more than i expected from reading the back of the dvd box
  By A1XZJ32DJS8YV2 on 2007-07-28
  
  It is a lot easier to say what the movie is not, not what it is not about, then it is to say what it is.
  The back of the box calls it "sexy and seductive", that is just marketing and salesmanship, it's not really about sex, but about love and the complexity of relationships.
  Certainly it has sex in it, but it is twists within layers of motivation, as complex and as twisted as people can be and often are.
  
  Even the title is about multiple things. The B&E that is the center point of their lives at this point, both the robbery at the office and the breaking of relationships and entering into new ones.
  
  There are 5 characters, the movie seems to be talking about the relative priorities of these relationships in the lives of these people.
  You have the relationship between the architect and his long time Swedish girlfriend.
  Her relationship with an autistic 11-12 year old daughter from a marriage in Sweden that she abandoned.
  A Bosnian refugee and her late teen son. who is the character that blends their lives together to made the movie.
  And the major relationship that the movie investigates, the affair between the refugee and the architect.
  
  The boy breaks into the architect's office, several times and steals the electronics, as part of a gang run by his paternal uncle.
  The boy is portrayed as misguided and in need of a real strong father figure, a partial surrogate is found in a legal/social worker, but it is not enough.
  His mother is haunted by the death of her husband in Sarajevo, afraid for her son and his potential to get locked up, and desperate for someone to notice and to touch her.
  The architect is haunted by the break in and the loss of his stuff as well as feeling rejected and out of the loop with his girlfriend because she is so consumed with attention and worry for her troubled child. So he goes out shopping for a new relationship and beds the refugee, partly lust, partly attraction, partly to get close to her to get the son for the robbery. Mostly he really doesn't seem to know exactly why, he is just reacting, not thinking, just feeling, not reflective(at first). The refugee for her part desires the attention of a man and plans to blackmail him with pictures of her in bed with him to keep him from turning into the police what he has found out. She thinks he is only in it for the sex and revenge against the son(she doesn't think she is the reason for the affair), but he seems unaware of this potential motivation (striking at the son through her) being too interesting in the physical passion. I think she is constantly doing it, partially, for her son.
  
  So you can see where the complexity of the movie comes from. Motivations are misread, not just by the other person but by the person themselves. This character development takes time and as a result (plus our addiction to action in movie) the movie seems to move slowly for the first hour, it is an illusion, for much is being communicated to us, just not in outward battles, but with some subtlety. Stick with it, the movie will reward a careful and close watching, it is not the usual dim witted fare, but something to think about.
  
  It is the relative priorities that is interesting, how they change as the people see the results and ramifications of their actions. There is a point, when the architect sits down by his girlfriend's bath and confesses all and asks her forgiveness that the movie begins to see/show what honesty can do, rather than the dishonesty and lies that have dominated the previous few days (maybe a week or two). He really does see what he has to lose and tries to grab her before she leaves him.
  
  As for the relationship of the architect and the refugee, there is an extraordinarily well done scene on a beautiful hillside park where she falls to her knees begging him to help her save her son from jail. He keeps saying that he can't, what he can't do is confess to his girlfriend and tell her of the affair and his need to break away from the noose of the daughter and her mother's deep love. What is the central piece of the movie is his realization that he wants to be inside that circle, part of the pain and hope of caring for a deeply troubled child, as part and parcel of the bargain of being in her mother's life, a neat touch, not usual in a movie. The male actually realizes that relationships are more than sex.
  
  Two relationships are constant, the mothers for their offspring. They never waver from that commitment, willing to sacrifice the relationships with the men in their lives for it. Saddened by the prospect of losing him, but never challenging the priority of this mother-child bond. The refugee son realizes both what his mom sacrificed and does for him and what the architect finally fesses up to (although both he and his girlfriend continue the lying at the court) the affair and yet still in the end, stands up for the refugee and her son.
  
  I liked the movie, if i had stopped it after an hour i would have missed it all. Glad i didn't, from the reviews on amazon, many people did make this mistake however.
  We are not used to such deep and troubling movies, at least i am not, preferring to get my thinking from books rather than movies, but this movie is a welcomed exception to this. Just stick with it, rewind when needed, stop if you need to yell at the characters for their stupid decisions, get a bit involved. i think you will be rewarded with insight and a bit of tears. thanks for the movie guys.
  
  
  
• Minghella Looks at People Desperate to Connect in a Contemporary Melting Pot
  By A13E0ARAXI6KJW on 2007-10-14
  Over the past decade, Anthony Minghella has raised his profile as a prestige filmmaker whose luxuriant productions have made him more often than not, a darling of the critics and the heir apparent to David Lean. This 2007 film is a return to an earlier Minghella when he not only directed but wrote original screenplays on a more intimate scale, in this case, within the environs of London's decidedly working-class King's Cross area now in the midst of urban revitalization. This time out, he focuses on a group of disparate people in desperate need to connect, although none know quite how. Unfortunately, despite the efforts of a stellar cast and Benoît Delhomme's evocatively moody cinematography of the contemporary cityscape, the bigger problem is that Minghella falls short in connecting us to his characters in any compelling way. In fact, through the excessive use of plot contrivances masquerading as manifestations of liberal guilt, the film bears some resemblance to Paul Haggis' execrable Crash in illustrating unrealistic character arcs for the purposes of cathartic revelations and an altruistic ending.
  
  The convoluted plot focuses on Will Francis, a workaholic architect who lives in Kensington but decides with his partner Sandy to relocate their thriving business to King's Cross. Will's dysfunctional home life is the most obvious reason he finds work an escape but at the price of distancing himself from his frigid, live-in girlfriend Liv and their autistic adolescent daughter Bea, a budding gymnast. Together for a decade, they have formed a solid family unit, but Bea's constant need for attention alienates him, so much so that he becomes obsessed with the burglaries that have recently occurred at his glass-covered office. Sometimes with the company of a brusque Russian hooker named Oana, Will camps out in his car at night in order to catch the thieves who stole his computers. He tracks Miro, one of the physically agile Bosnian teens responsible for the break-ins, but instead of going directly to the police, Will decides to insinuate himself into the life of Miro's seamstress mother Amira. They embark on an affair, and when motives are inevitably exposed, both Will and Amira make choices which upend their personal dilemmas.
  
  What is oddly unmoving about the film is how all these plot turns happen with an almost matter-of-fact lack of urgency. The film remains stubbornly stillborn and somewhat patronizing within Minghella's grandiose ideas of personal redemption among the privileged when it comes to the immigrant underclasses. Minghella's favorite leading man, Jude Law, plays Will in his familiar and by now tiring cocksure style, but he can sometimes get underneath the character's innate narcissism to reveal a certain vulnerability. Juliette Binoche accurately captures Amira's angst, but she is weighed down by her character's constant sorrow, so much so that her scenes with Law have an almost clinical feel to them. The actors' contrasting acting styles torpedo the romanticism necessary to sustain such a far-fetched story. Playing the austere half-Swedish Liv, Robin Wright Penn seems to be channeling an Ingmar Bergman movie for inspiration.
  
  The highlights are all on the sidelines - Ray Winstone (Sexy Beast) as the pragmatic cop, Martin Freeman as the sardonic and smitten Sandy, and an underused Vera Farmiga (Down to the Bone, The Departed) smart, uninhibited and funny as Oana. The 2007 DVD has an informative and engaging commentary track from Minghella, who also provides the commentary on six deleted scenes. There is the obligatory making-of featurette, the twelve-minute, self-congratulatory "Lie. Cheat. Steal. Love. The Making of Breaking And Entering", as well as the original theatrical trailer. There are wonderful moments sprinkled throughout the film, but with the level of pedigree among the talents involved, this movie should have been so much more.
  
  
• A very touching movie
  By A1MZ86B59GZDOG on 2007-10-31
  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.
  
  
  
• Not a good ending
  By A1RPXT350L8KA2 on 2007-11-06
  The beginning and middle of this movie was good but did not make up for the ending. I guess I was expecting some shocking or abrupt ending instead it ended happily everyone making up and moving on! Disgusting!
  
  

• The Painted Veil
• Little Children
• Factory Girl (Unrated)
• Notes on a Scandal
• Breach (Widescreen Edition)