Breaking (2022)

[Jake Lipson]

Title: Breaking (2022)

Tagline: Based on the true story of one man's demand to be heard.

Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller

Director: Abi Damaris Corbin

Cast: John Boyega, Michael Kenneth Williams, Nicole Beharie, Connie Britton, Selenis Leyva, Jeffrey Donovan, Olivia Washington, London Covington, Robb Derringer, Carmine Giovinazzo, Kate Burton, Albert Kong, Elise Neal, Kelli Dawn Hancock, Mel Fair, Keith Ewell, Miriam Silverman, Shannon Walsh, Kim D'Armond, Brian Groh, Dan Aho, Xavier Avila, John Zderko, Kacey Montoya, Aries Sanders, William Marquart, Lily Keene, Bourke Floyd, Marcus Bailey, Michelle Bernard, Malcolm Smith, Joyce Greenleaf, Angelina Ramirez, Anthony D. Washington, Frantz Durand, Robert Gatewood, Harvey B. Jackson, Anne-Marie Olsen, Paul Sinacore, Peter Lawrence Singer, Katherine Stephens-Miller, John Un

Release: 2022-08-26

Runtime: 103

Plot: When Marine Veteran Brian Brown-Easley is denied support from Veteran’s Affairs, financially desperate and running out of options, he takes a bank and several of its employees hostage, setting the stage for a tense confrontation with the police.

 

[Jake Lipson]

This trailer caught my attention today when I went to see Emily The Criminal (which was also great.). When I got home, I realized Breaking played Sundance this year under an earlier title 892. John Boyega stars.

The movie is coming out August 26, although with Blecker Street I'm not sure how wide it will be.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I saw this today.

It is, at times, a very difficult watch. It left me with a feeling of sadness because the events portrayed in this movie are so unfortunate, and so avoidable. The movie succeeds in making you care about the central character, Brian (played by John Boyega), and wanting things to work out for him. But Brian isn't just a character. This is based on a true story which happened in 2017 when he took hostages in a bank in order to draw attention to problems with the VA, which denied him his disability check.

If the issues Brian is attempting to resolve in the movie had been properly addressed. there wouldn't be a movie to make about it. So it feels kind of weird to watch this and paradoxical. I don't remember coverage of the actual event, so I would probably not know about this if there hadn't been a movie made. But I feel for him. The movie is good, but it makes you wish that things happened in such a way that the movie wouldn't exist.

That being said, the events did happen, so the story is worth telling and it is told exceptionally well. I like John Boyega a lot as an actor and have seen him in a handful of things besides from Star Wars. He is a great actor, but this performance is on a whole other level. Even considering myself a fan, I didn't know he had a performance like this in him until I was sitting there watching it. He is exceptional and people should take note. The supporting cast is very good too, including one of the final performances by Michael Kenneth Williams prior to his unfortunate passing. The film is dedicated in memory of Williams. But even though there is a great ensemble, this is Boyega's movie, and he makes the most of a really great part. I hope he continues to get more roles like this because he is extremely compelling to watch even when he isn't playing Finn.

The director is someone I've not heard of before, Abi Damaris Corbin. She keeps the movie fast-paced and focused without sacrificing the character moments. I will be really interested to see what she does next.

I would recommend the movie without hesitation, but it is also something that I doubt I would want to put myself through watching again with any regularity.

There were only five people including me at the screening I attended, so it doesn't seem to be drawing an audience. If you want to see it, I would go sooner rather than later. I am glad I went out to support the movie, but I also think it will play well at home if more people catch up with it when it hits a streaming service.

 

[Wayne_j]

My favorite movie since Top Gun Maverick. I never get the point of physically holding people hostage, you will almost always end up dead or in prison. If you are dealing with a bureaucracy your best chance is hiring a lawyer many of which won't charge you unless you get your benefits.

 

[JoeStemme]

Solid drama based on the true story of an ex-Marine who took over a Georgia bank in 2017 threatening to blow it and a pair employees up with a bomb. The soldier, Brian Brown-Easley, played by John Boyega has been caught up in a dispute with The Veteran's Administration. At wit's end, he decides that making a spectacle will get the attention of the media.

Director and Co-Writer Abi Damaris Corbin sets up the situation in a fairly straightforward manner. The emphasis is clearly on Brown-Easley as the movie methodically shows the hours leading up to the takeover. As the situation escalates, we get more glimpses of his ex-wife and child. The two bank employees provide an element of immediate endangerment. Nicole Beharie is particularly good as the calm but determined manager as is the late Michael K. Williams as the hostage negotiator.

When the movie moves past the immediate hostage situation inside the bank, the script gets a bit more dicey. The point of view and background details get a bit muddled. The acting holds it together, but, a more directed narrative would have tightened the suspense all the more. Brown-Easley's story did all too briefly cast a light on military veterans' plight, but, alas, the moment passed soon after the situation was finalized.

BREAKING is good calling card for Corbin, and Boyega's performance should lead to more opportunities outside the Star Wars/sci-fi universe.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Breaking has been set for Blu-ray release on October 25.

It is also now available digitally if you want to pay a premium $19.99 rental or $24.99 purchase price. Presumably those prices will lower to something more normal after the disc release as is usually the case.

I don't know that I would advise a purchase on this title, I thought it was great and everyone is terrific in it. But I also don't think it's something I would want to see repeatedly. Everyone in it is really good and it is certainly telling an important story. I was captivated the entire time, but it is also intense and emotionally draining to watch.

That being said, I would certainly recommend watching it once. I hope it finds a wider audience at home than it did in its underpromoted theatrical run.