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Minghella's final theatrical film, and one of only two original screenplays that he himself wrote (the other being his debut, Truly, Madly, Deeply, which is presently unavailable on DVD). I've seen several variations on the theme in Breaking and Entering in recent years, where affluent white people come into contact with downtrodden immigrants. I have heard them referred to as "globalization movies", and I kind of like that term. Another one that comes immediately to mind is Michael Haneke's Code Unknown. Breaking and Entering is not at that level, but it's a very good film. Jude Law plays an architect who is growing apart from his girlfriend of 10 years (Robin Wright Penn) and her autistic daughter (Poppy Rogers, a fantastic juvenile actress). When his office is burgled, Law follows the teenage perpetrator (Rafi Gavron) to his mother's apartment. Played by Juliette Binoche, the mother is a Bosnian refugee working as a tailor in London. Law becomes intrigued, and eventually they start an affair. From here, everything starts to get real messy. As it would in real life, of course. Which is why the film ends so disappointingly: Minghella wraps everything up too cleanly. He also has Law act unbelievably. There's an inquest near the end, and what he admits during the hearing not only didn't have to be admitted, but it seems, to me at least, that admitting it would have the opposite effect that he intends. So, yeah, it ends weakly, to say the least. But I can't knock it too much. Law and Binoche are extraordinary. Binoche could probably do something like this in her sleep. I remember when Law was an exciting new actor, but there was that year that I think we all got sick of him when he appeared in like 20 movies. A performance like this helps remind me of why we touted his talents in the first place. I also really liked Vera Farmiga in a small role of a Russian hooker. She's a good character actor. She should probably be cast in these kind of roles in the future instead of lead roles. |