In association with

Breaking And Entering [2006]
from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm
starring Jude Law, Juliette Binoche, Robin Wright Penn, Martin Freeman, Ray Winstone

Features:

• Anamorphic
• PAL

Editorial 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

BREAKING AND ENTERING is interesting, character-driven drama. Jude Law (CLOSER, FINAL CUT) plays Will, a landscape architect who succeeds in business but finds his personal life is tougher to navigate. He has been with Liv (Robin Wright Penn, FORREST GUMP, THE PLEDGE) for years, but it’s difficult to connect with her due to her worry over her teenage daughter. When Will catches teenager Miro breaking into his office, he chases the thief home. He later meets the boy's mother, a Bosnian refugee played by Juliette Binoche (CHOCOLAT, THE ENGLISH PATIENT). His anger at Miro is quickly transformed into attraction to his mother, further complicating his relationship with Liv.
This is Law’s third teaming with director Anthony Minghella (after THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY and COLD MOUNTAIN), and their partnership rewards the audience with a typically good performance from the actor. Wright Penn and Binoche also display the talent people have come to expect, but it’s the supporting cast that shines here. As Will’s business partner, Sandy, Martin Freeman plays second fiddle to Law, but he possesses a similar charm as his character on THE OFFICE. As a persistent prostitute, Vera Farmiga (THE DEPARTED) is one of the movie’s highlights, providing laughter in what is largely a very bleak film. Gavron is a capable young actor as Miro, but his performance is most astonishing for his skills at the sport of parkour, a kind of urban acrobatics on display throughout the film. If only these characters were half as adept at life and relationships as Gavron is at leaping from building to building...

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 3.0 / 5.0

• Even Ray Winstone couldn't save this one..........
  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... more info

• Watch it to see what it could have been
  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... more info

• Loving it
  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.
  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.

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