Ask and ye shall receive, huh? Not long ago, I complained that Traffik would have been a better film with somebody a tad deeper than Paula Patton in the lead. Here is a similar film and similar role and Gabrielle Union fighting bad guys instead of Paula withering from them. And you know what? It is better, even though the premise is much lamer. Simply put, Gabrielle Union is more convincing as a mom trying to protect her children from evil than Paula Patton is at … pretty much anything.
Shaun Russell (Union) is not a single mother; it just feels that way for most of the film. Following the murder of her estranged, well-to-do father, Shaun takes the kids and heads back to the rural ranch house where she grew up. “Ooooo, this house is niiiiiice; why isn’t our house nice?” The house is also fully automated: push button curtains, automatic turn-down service, cameras on most every square inch of the property; gramps must have had a penchant for keeping an eye on the wildlife 24/7. Seriously, whom do you think is coming to steal your hay bales?
Ah, I speak too soon. I won’t say gramps was into dirty stuff, but when I’m murdered, I don’t expect professional criminals to start sniffin’ around my getaways. There’s a treasure trove of sorts in the empty house and a team of four has come to claim it, unaware that the new owner has returned. This action, of course, begs the question, “How many burglars does it take to rob an abandoned house, anyway?” Oh, the head guy is the idiot dad from Twilight? Yeah, I can now see how this is a multiple-person job.
Naturally, the bad guys get in, claim the house and the children while the mom is free on the outside. The house is a fortress, but mom knows it better than the bad guys. Now, shouldn’t the element of evil just use the children
to get what they want? I’m pretty sure this is simple. It seems clear from the outset of the film that these guys don’t care for rules. Why they draw the line between murder and child leverage manipulation is one to ask Mr. Wizard.
The real answer to the question above (how many burglars …?) is “As many as we can realistically see Gabrielle Union picking off while trying to get her kids back.” Are we going with four? Four it is. For a film with a lot of gadgetry, Breaking In is hardly rocket science. No one is going to confuse Breaking In with the heart-pumping thrill rides of the century, but I genuinely wanted to see how Shaun was going to use her advanced knowledge of the house to thwart Twilight dad and Breaking In Dawns. No, the subject matter isn’t exactly human trafficking, yet the heroine makes the plot worth watching … for me, at least.
A house removed from city slog
Has the security of a Russian gulag
Yet impenetrable? Not
And the final upshot
Maybe he should have used Smaug
Rated PG-13, 88 Minutes
Director: James McTeigue
Writer: Ryan Engle
Genre: A good excuse to root for Gabrielle Union
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: People who need to believe home invaders can be defeated
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Burglars
