Susan Granger’s review of “Breaking and Entering” (Weinstein/Miramax/UA)
Love relationships take unexpected twists in Anthony Minghella’s contemporary drama about regeneration set in North London’s squalid King’s Cross neighborhood.
Architect Will Francis (Jude Law) and his icy, depressive Swedish girlfriend Liv (Robin Wright Penn) have lived together for many years but now they’re drifting apart, primarily because of her obsession with caring for her emotionally troubled 13 year-old daughter, Bea (Poppy Rogers). Meanwhile, Will and his partner (Martin Freeman) are revitalizing the decaying urban landscape when their newly renovated high-tech office is burglarized not once but twice by a local gang of Serbian refugees. The primary thief is a remarkably agile 15 year-old, Miro (Rafi Gavron), who keeps Will’s laptop. One night, Will spots Miro and trails him to the flat he shares with his feisty mother, Amira (Juliette Binoche), who fled with him from war-torn Sarajevo and now works as a seamstress. Curious about this acrobatic youth who races across rooftops, Will starts bringing clothes for Amira to mend. Soon a clandestine affair develops.
Best known for directing “The English Patient,” “The Talented Mr. Ripley” and “Cold Mountain,” Anthony Minghella has also written the contrived screenplay, which is filled with social relevance and ethical metaphors, theft being is the primary one. Which is worse: the theft of material possessions or the theft of someone’s heart?
Problem is: all the characters are seriously underwritten, often implausible, as is a gratuitous subplot involving a Romanian prostitute (Vera Farmiga). The talented actors do the best they can but never seem to get a firm grasp on their characters – with the exception of Juliette Binoche, who delivers a luminous performance. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Breaking and Entering” is an intellectually engaging 7 but never delivers on an emotional level.
