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Breaking And Entering [2006]


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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

The atmospheric and erotically charged Breaking and Entering reunites director Anthony Minghella with Jude Law (The Talented Mr. Ripley, Cold Mountain) and the haunting Juliette Binoche (The English Patient, for which she and Minghella won Academy Awards). Law fully invests himself as pre-occupied landscape architect Will Francis, who with his partner (Martin Freeman from The Office), is heading a gentrification project in London's seedy, crime-plagued King's Cross neighborhood. At home, he and Liv (Robin Penn Wright), his morose Swedish-American girlfriend of 10 years, are increasingly estranged over the demands of his job and of caring for Liv's autistic daughter, a 13-year-old aspiring gymnast. Will, hiding his identity, begins an affair with Amira (Binoche), the mother of a youth who has twice ransacked Will's office. Amira is a Bosnian refugee with a fierce survival streak that is not above blackmail when she learns who Will is.

This is Minghella's first original screenplay since his little-known romantic gem Truly Madly Deeply. The dialogue has Woody Allen pretensions: A cleaning woman who comes under suspicion for the break-ins invokes Kafka. A prostitute (Vera Farmiga giving the film's liveliest performance) has a philosophical bent. Will himself ham-handedly explains how he much prefers metaphors to straightforward communication (he'd love this film's title). An art-house film with an A-list cast and wrenching performances, Breaking and Entering couldn't get arrested in theatres, but it is a fine addition to Crash and other liberal-minded "them and us" dramas. --Donald Liebenson


Tactical voting
Review date: 2008-11-07 Rating: 8 out of 10

Perhaps expectations of this film have been too high. I'm reviewing it mainly to redress the balance. There aren't that many decently made watchable films set in London that a good piece of work like this should be missed. It reminds me of Sunday Bloody Sunday, a story based on domesticity and the understanding and misunderstandings between a small group of interesting and likeable people, pretty well acted. Binoche is excellent, no-one is less than believable. The plot is maybe - but that's cinema. If you like a quiet well made and well shot film don't miss it.

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Reviews


Even Ray Winstone couldn't save this one..........
Review date: 2008-07-03 Rating: 2 out of 10

I rented this on the premise that Ray Winstone doesn't appear in too many poor films &, lo & behold, this proves to be one of the exceptions to that rule.

Jude Law's acting, & indeed his character, is devoid of anything approaching real life but, to be fair to him, the whole plot & direction are so far off beam it's scary.

There are too many snags in this film to mention &, just in case you do want to watch it anyway, I wouldn't want to spoil the "experience" for you; but can you imagine an eastern European hooker nicking someones car & then returning it a few days later clean,tidy & with an affectionate memento of her?

No, neither can I.

Best avoided.

Watch it to see what it could have been
Review date: 2008-06-08 Rating: 6 out of 10

For seven years I lived in Paddington, and I worked with the regeneration people, so when I realised that this film was all about redeveloping a seedy neighbourhood, I was hooked. The issues around turning a decayed area into a modern toytown, with concrete and glass, is a long and deep subject.

The UK melting pot is also a complex subject, and it's great to see a director like Anthony Minghella trying to get to grips with it. But whereas a film like Dirty Pretty Things tells a story involving similar subjects in a brisk and engaging way, AM piles on the metaphors and neuroses like Stephen Poliakoff. While you admire the ambition, you feel like switching off and giving up every ten minutes.

Michael Haneke makes me feel what it's like to be in a city - films like Hidden and Code Unknown - express ideas in a subtle and powerful way. Jude Law talking about talking and the problems of communication is just too clumsy. Some of the dialogue is very pedestrian in this film, and much of the action is rather forced.

The Ray Winstone policeman character is just ridiculous, the probation or youth officer is pathetic and the prostitute also jars. AM tries to imagine an urban community, but he doesn't bring it off.

I love Binoche, and in this film, she reminded me of a friend I've got who worked in a café in Paddington. I knew some Bosnian girls who had tough times, too. The problem was that we had to have an exposition of the backstory, and that didn't feel natural. Will's (Jude Law) dilemmas didn't ring true, and the relationship between the two reminded me of a pretentious pastiche of a French film.

The ending is an embarrassing dog's dinner.

Still watching the deleted scenes, I saw that AM was trying to create a panorama of a city at a certain time. The use of a traceurs (beloved of pop videos), the wonderful modern office, the pictures of regeneration mean that it will depict an 'era'. I did get a sense of 'new' London.

In 1996 I worked for a City law firm, and nobody had a computer on their desk. 12 years later and you have these stunning minimalist offices. And there has been a sense that any problem will yield to modern design and investment. Breaking and Entering rather undermines this notion.

Watching, the making of documentary, it featured Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack, as the two big cheeses in this film. Sadly, of course, both men passed away in the last few months.

Loving it
Review date: 2008-04-07 Rating: 10 out of 10

First saw this film at the cinema, and it remains my favourite film of 2006. It is well acted and very subtle in it's message. Well, I liked it a lot, but see for yourself. well worth the money on DVD.

It is refreshing to watch a British film set in London that isn't all about East End gangsters.
Review date: 2008-02-07 Rating: 4 out of 10

It is refreshing to watch a British film set in London that isn't all about East End gangsters. In a film with predominantly female characters, Jude Law's character needed to have a bit more commanding masculinity about him for balance, however, Jude played the character of Will in his typical manner of playing the sensitive male in touch with his feminine side. Not a bad film though.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Robin Wright Penn
Martin Freeman
Ray Winstone
Juliette Binoche
Jude Law

Creators:
Jude Law (Primary Contributor)
Juliette Binoche (Primary Contributor)

Recording label: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm
EAN: 8717418118280
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Anamorphic, PAL,
Release date: 2007-07-23
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 115 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2006
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: English (Subtitles For The Hearing Impaired)
Language: German (Subtitled)
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: Italian (Subtitled)
Language: Turkish (Subtitled)
Language: Arabic (Subtitled)
Language: Croatian (Subtitled)

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