MOVIE OF THE WEEK (8/26/16): DON'T BREATHE
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| "I'm staring down the steps to a basement ... You know nothing good is going to come of this, right?!" The blind man (Stephen Lang) examines his home for potential intruders in a scene from co-writer/director Fede Alvarez's thriller DON'T BREATHE. Credit: Gordon Timpen, SMPSP. © 2016 CTMG Inc. All rights reserved. |
WATCH THE TRAILER(S) HERE:
WRITER(S): Fede Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues
DIRECTOR(S): Fede Alvarez
DIRECTOR(S): Fede Alvarez
WEB SITE: http://www.dontbreathe-movie.com/site/
HERE'S THE STORY: An old school simple cat-and-mouse tension thriller, Don't Breathe stars Jane Levy as Roxanne a.k.a. Rocky, a young girl living in the ruins of Detroit with her little sister Diddy (Emma Bercovici) ... And her less-than-stellar mother (Katia Bokor) and her boyfriend (Sergej Onopko). Living in squalor with little hope of things improving, Rocky has a plan to get out of Detroit and take Diddy with her to California to start a new life. Problem is, Rocky doesn't really have the money to do so, which is why she is planning on making a big score with her fellow thieves – frustrated platonic best friend Alex (Dylan Minnette) and the hotheaded Money (Daniel Zovatto), who also happens to be her boyfriend.
Seeking to make one last big score, the trio thinks they've come across the perfect score when they discover the house of a blind man (Stephen Lang). The blind man, you see, won hundreds of thousands of dollars when his daughter was killed in a traffic accident by a young girl whose rich family settled up. (She, however, was acquitted for the record). Throw in the fact he lives in a part of town that is essentially deserted for blocks, only has a dog to protect him and oh yeah, is blind and Rocky, Money and a reluctant Alex – who's dad works for the company that installed the security system in their potential victim's home – and the trio thinks they have an easy score.
Then, they enter the blind man's house and quickly discover that their potential prey may become the predator they never expected or prepared to deal with ...
HERE'S THE STORY: An old school simple cat-and-mouse tension thriller, Don't Breathe stars Jane Levy as Roxanne a.k.a. Rocky, a young girl living in the ruins of Detroit with her little sister Diddy (Emma Bercovici) ... And her less-than-stellar mother (Katia Bokor) and her boyfriend (Sergej Onopko). Living in squalor with little hope of things improving, Rocky has a plan to get out of Detroit and take Diddy with her to California to start a new life. Problem is, Rocky doesn't really have the money to do so, which is why she is planning on making a big score with her fellow thieves – frustrated platonic best friend Alex (Dylan Minnette) and the hotheaded Money (Daniel Zovatto), who also happens to be her boyfriend.
Seeking to make one last big score, the trio thinks they've come across the perfect score when they discover the house of a blind man (Stephen Lang). The blind man, you see, won hundreds of thousands of dollars when his daughter was killed in a traffic accident by a young girl whose rich family settled up. (She, however, was acquitted for the record). Throw in the fact he lives in a part of town that is essentially deserted for blocks, only has a dog to protect him and oh yeah, is blind and Rocky, Money and a reluctant Alex – who's dad works for the company that installed the security system in their potential victim's home – and the trio thinks they have an easy score.
Then, they enter the blind man's house and quickly discover that their potential prey may become the predator they never expected or prepared to deal with ...
WHO WILL LIKE THIS FILM THE MOST? Fans of "who will survive" and tension build thrillers; people tired of cheap "jump" supernatural thrillers
WHO WON'T (OR SHOULDN'T) LIKE THIS MOVIE? People with the inability to suspend their disbelief; people who will find the film a bit too over-the-top at times
SO, IS IT GOOD, BAD OR ABSOLUTELY AWFUL? As described above, Don't Breathe is one of those old school, 70s-style thrillers: No one is as innocent or guilty as them seem, the twists make sense and don't feel cheap and the story builds to a climax.
What makes Don't Breathe work is a combination of a few basic factors: An inherently interesting premise, a solid for the genre set of performances that draw empathy for some of their outcomes and simple, effective direction to bring the story to life. Whereas Levy is strong in her lead as Rocky, making you care about her fate and her course of actions, Lang is strong in making his every move add to the story twists and proving himself to be a more than capable foe for his home's would be assailants. Likewise, Minnette takes on his role with an effective tonal nature, acting as both the moral center and the young kid you hope will be okay since he is trying to do his best once draw into the fray. The characters may have found their respective selves in an avoidable situation, but none of them act in the stereotypically stupid ways most characters in these type of films do once they are. You understand their motivations, they understand they are in a bad place and then try to figure out the way to best finagle their way out of it. This, coupled with Alvarez's effective storytelling, makes for a solid package.
Instead of relying on cheap jump scenes, unnecessary gore and other camera tricks, Alvarez draws you into his characters' world and places you into their shoes, makes you hold your breath along with them and fumble around as they do in search of their next move. Just when the characters think they have something figured out, something changes – and in turn, so does the experience for the audience. It's a solid effort that more than makes up for Alvarez and Levy previous collaboration, 2013's underwhelming, "serious" re-imaging of Evil Dead that really added nothing other than a female hero in place of Bruce Campbell's beloved Ash. All of the classic elements of "what would I do in this situation is at work in Don't Breathe, as is a great sense of "I didn't see that coming!" moments. It's a simplicity that sticks to what needs to be done to make the story work, and it's a formula that works well, especially for building to a more and more exhilarating and crazy (but in a good, fun way) climax.
It's why Don't Breathe may not make you hold your breath, but definitely make you gasp and laugh enough to satisfy the average movie fan.
SO, IS IT GOOD, BAD OR ABSOLUTELY AWFUL? As described above, Don't Breathe is one of those old school, 70s-style thrillers: No one is as innocent or guilty as them seem, the twists make sense and don't feel cheap and the story builds to a climax.
What makes Don't Breathe work is a combination of a few basic factors: An inherently interesting premise, a solid for the genre set of performances that draw empathy for some of their outcomes and simple, effective direction to bring the story to life. Whereas Levy is strong in her lead as Rocky, making you care about her fate and her course of actions, Lang is strong in making his every move add to the story twists and proving himself to be a more than capable foe for his home's would be assailants. Likewise, Minnette takes on his role with an effective tonal nature, acting as both the moral center and the young kid you hope will be okay since he is trying to do his best once draw into the fray. The characters may have found their respective selves in an avoidable situation, but none of them act in the stereotypically stupid ways most characters in these type of films do once they are. You understand their motivations, they understand they are in a bad place and then try to figure out the way to best finagle their way out of it. This, coupled with Alvarez's effective storytelling, makes for a solid package.
Instead of relying on cheap jump scenes, unnecessary gore and other camera tricks, Alvarez draws you into his characters' world and places you into their shoes, makes you hold your breath along with them and fumble around as they do in search of their next move. Just when the characters think they have something figured out, something changes – and in turn, so does the experience for the audience. It's a solid effort that more than makes up for Alvarez and Levy previous collaboration, 2013's underwhelming, "serious" re-imaging of Evil Dead that really added nothing other than a female hero in place of Bruce Campbell's beloved Ash. All of the classic elements of "what would I do in this situation is at work in Don't Breathe, as is a great sense of "I didn't see that coming!" moments. It's a simplicity that sticks to what needs to be done to make the story work, and it's a formula that works well, especially for building to a more and more exhilarating and crazy (but in a good, fun way) climax.
It's why Don't Breathe may not make you hold your breath, but definitely make you gasp and laugh enough to satisfy the average movie fan.
OVERALL RATING (OUT OF FOUR POSSIBLE BUCKETS OF POPCORN):
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