I hate to start sounding like a broken record, but as I watched Breaking In, I had a weirdly similar experience that I had with Bad Samaritan not too long ago. The big surprise in that one being the fact that it’s directed by Dean Devlin to my surprise, unfortunately the reaction isn’t as pleasant this time around when I realized the director for Breaking In was James McTeigue, as in the guy behind V for Vendetta, and Ninja Assassin. Weird, right? Cause there’s no way you would be able to tell otherwise since the film is largely bland in the way it’s shot and edited. Though, I’m getting ahead of myself here.
Breaking In is a simple concept. Shaun (Gabrielle Union) and her two kids, Jasmine (Ajiona Alexus) and Glover (Seth Carr) go to prepare her estranged (and recently passed) father’s estate for sale. However, Shaun finds herself trapped out of the house when it gets taken over by several burglars attempting to find and steal the contents of a safe inside the house, all while holding the kids hostage. Shaun then has to use her wits to get into the house, and save her kids.
If you think the film takes a simple concept and adds its own flair, I’m afraid I have some bad news. Granted, it’s not a terrible movie, it’s not even a boring one. However, it is very by-the-numbers, and it doesn’t make much effort into doing anything clever, interesting, or exciting. It’s a shame because it becomes clear pretty quick that Gabrielle Union came to play ball here. She throws herself into the physicality of the role with ease, and she already has a compelling enough screen presence because she’s a total pro who has been in the game for…*checks Google*…20 plus years, wow, how is she not a full blown A-list movie star at this point? So, yeah, she’s a natural, and she can totally handle herself, but this material doesn’t live up to that potential.
However, there is a solid middle chunk of the movie that is quite effective. It’s basically the stealth portion, where Shaun has to make her way into the house, move about, get information, check on her kids, all while avoiding the bad guys (played by Billy Burke, Richard Cabral, and Levi Meadon). It’s effective mostly because it finally allows the movie to essentially do its thing without worrying about delivering exposition or any forced story beats. I really enjoy the moments where one of the bad guys would be walking around in the foreground, sometimes facing camera, and far in the background, you would see Shaun dash across the screen from one hallway to another. It never calls attention to itself, you either see it or you don’t. I wished it kept that playfulness because it is sorely lacking in the rest of the film.
Another problem is the rating. Well, actually not the rating itself, but the way it’s handled. It’s a PG-13 film, and while there’s nothing inherently wrong with doing a film like this with that rating, there are certain adjustments that a filmmaker should apply so that the project never feels neutered, and this movie doesn’t do that. A character gets their throat slit, and there’s no blood when the body gets dragged into the house. The big payoffs when the bad guys get what’s coming to them are underwhelming, and don’t have as big an impact as it should. And at one point two of the bad guys were getting into a heated argument, and Burke said to Cabral, “do what you’re freakin’ told!” Nothing makes me shake in my boots like seeing big, burly, tattooed villains saying the word “freaking.” Watch out, they might take the Lord’s name in vain. Sure, Shaun does eventually get to use the film’s sole f-bomb in a cool moment, but by that point, it felt like an obligation and not the cathartic release for the audience that it should’ve been.
There just isn’t a whole lot to say about Breaking In. It’s a very basic movie with not much going for it. The simplicity isn’t a bad thing, but what you are supposed to do is use the barebones plotting to create a foundation for stylistic flourishes, nutty setpieces, interesting characters, and genre gruesomeness to be built upon. And honing in on the primal desire for a mother to protect her kids is a great place to work from. That’s usually how this works, but this film doesn’t seem to opt for that. It’s a shame because Gabrielle Union is giving her all here, and the film around her is only doing the bare minimum. This could’ve very easily been much more fun and thrilling than it is, but instead, you’ll just want to watch one of the many films it reminds you of.