Breaking In is timed perfectly for Mother's Day

Movie Title:     Breaking In

Grade:  C-

Rating: PG-13, 
     88 minutes

In a Nutshell:  Just in time for Mother’s Day, Gabrielle Union does a good job showing us what any mama bear will do to protect her cubs.  

Unfortunately, the action-thriller movie is predictable and even toned down to earn the PG-13 rating.

Tips for parents: 

• While I was glad there weren’t a lot of F-bombs (there is 1), it was a bit odd to hear one of the bad guys use the word “friggin.” The intensity of peril at that point becomes laughable.  There is some other profanity.
• You see two people get run over by a car.
• The teenage daughter’s boyfriend makes her a playlist full of sex songs, but the mom brushes it off like it’s nothing worth talking about.  Parents, please talk to your kids about the consequences of sex as a teen.
• Teach your kids how to pick a lock.  Just sayin…
• Attempted rape, although you don’t see anything.  I would have gone full psycho revenge on that bad guy for that one act alone.
• Violence and deaths.

                                     

Uplifting theme: 

• Family
• Motherhood
• Tenacity

Things I liked:

• Gabrielle Union is the capable protagonist, as well as one of the producers of the movie.
• It’s refreshing that most of the decisions made were smart, rather than the usual dumb choices characters tend to make in this genre.
• Richard Cabral’s character is crazy bad, giving us the only real sense of urgency and peril that we want to see.
• Ajiona Alexus has such beautiful eyes.

Things I didn’t like:

• While I enjoyed the other action thrillers that writer Ryan Engle created, like Non-Stop and The Commuter (I'm a Liam Neeson fan), this film doesn’t bring anything new to the genre.
• The talented director of V for Vendetta, James McTeigue, doesn’t give us a clever, deep movie that we know he’s capable of; that movie was a masterpiece.
• Billy Burke’s character comes off looking bored during the entire movie.
• The characters were not really developed.  You never learn much about any of them.  One character shows up towards the end of the movie and you’re like, “Wait!  What?  Where did He come from? I thought…."
• A lot of the scenes are in a dark house or at night, so this movie might be hard to watch on a TV or computer monitor when it QUICKLY goes to the cheap DVD bin at Wal-Mart or online streaming.
• Lots of scampering around the house scenes.
• You’d think that if the dad built all of those security measures into the house that he would have hidden some guns somewhere.  Just sayin…
• "Payback" in the movie poster isn't quite the right word for what happens in the movie.  The mom gets mad and just wants to protect her kids, but she doesn't get crazy or seek revenge, like the movie poster promises.

Interesting lines:

• “Fear I can manage.  Desperation is a whole other thing.” – Eddie (Billy Burrke)
• “Moms don’t run (away).” – Eddie
• “You’re an impressive woman.” – Eddie

“No, I’m not.  I’m a mom.” – Shaun Russell (Gabrielle Union)

A better movie in the same genre is:

                  

                                         

                                              @trinaboice

Snatched features mother/daughter comedy team for Mother's Day

Movie Title:  Snatched (DVD + DHD)

Grade:  C

Rating: R, 91 minutes

In a Nutshell:  This movie has Amy Schumer in it, so that already tells you it’s going to be super trashy and foul-mouthed.

Uplifting theme: 

• “Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” -  Andre Gide (as quoted by James – Tom Bateman)
• Parenting
•  Reflection on your life and how it has meaning.
• “Waterfalls and rainbows.”   Have an adventure. 

Things I liked:

• It was wonderful to see award-winning Goldie Hawn return to the big screen after a 15 year break.  Amy Schumer threatened to leave the movie if the studio studio didn't cast Goldie Hawn.  It would have been awesome if Goldie and her daughter, Kate Hudson, could have done this together.  An internet hoax went viral last year, saying she died, but she is very much alive and well! 
• Stand-up comediennes Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes offered spontaneous "pop-up" shows while they were filming in Honolulu.  The shows were announced in the mornings and sold out in only a few hours.  
• The movie takes place in Ecuador and Colombia. My twin sister lived there for  1 ½ years, so I was so excited to go there for the first time with her a couple of years ago.  Unfortunately, all of the filming actually took place in Hawaii!
• All parents over the age of 40 can relate to needing computer help from their kids.
• James was telling Emily about all of the cool things he has done in his life and Emily said, “Your Instagram must be insane.”  When he revealed that he didn’t even have an account or use social media, she was stunned and asked, “How can anybody see what you do?” He simply stated, “Well, they don’t, but I get to live it.”
• Ike Barinholtz plays a disfunctional basement dweller and is really funny.  He made me laugh out loud every time he said, "mama, mama."
• I love Joan Cusack in anything, even when she doesn't say a word.
• The supporting characters are entertaining.
• The story features a mother/daughter relationship with all its drama and love, timed perfectly for Mother's Day.

Things I didn’t like:

• Amy Schumer’s character is such a crude, nasty, skank.
• The tapeworm scene was disgusting.

• You see Amy Schumer’s boob. No thank you.
• Did I laugh?  A few times.  Did I groan in disgust?  Many times.
• Some of the editing is really choppy.
• It's extremely predictable.  The plot doesn't really go anywhere (other than Ecuador and Colombia...ha ha).

Funny lines:

• “Feel free to drink from any puddle you see.  All water in the jungle is safe.” – Roger (Christopher Meloni)  His character was really funny.
• “How to cheer up a depressed cat” web site.
• “Help me put the FUN in non-refundable.” – Emily Middleton (Amy Schumer)
• “That’s nice.  I didn’t know they had a daycare program at the hotel.” – Linda Middleton (Goldie Hawn) when she sees an older man arm in arm with a young woman.
• “I love that you don’t care about sounding like a weirdo.” – Emily
• “I’ve read all the Game of Thrones books.  I’ll text you spoilers.” – Jeffrey (Ike Barinholtz)
• “Kill him Mom.  This is a mom thing.” – Emily
• “Mama!” Jeffrey 

Interesting lines:

• “You were mine and now you’re not.  And I miss you.” – Goldie   (I can definitely relate to that feeling as a mother whose kids are flying out of the nest.  It’s hard! I miss them!)

Tips for parents: 

• TONS of profanity and F-bombs.  Some of the music had profanity and F-bombs too.
• TONS of inappropriate and crude humor.
• Jeffrey has Agoraphobia, which your kids may not know about, but will easily be able to tell that there’s something off (and funny) about Jeffrey.
• A man in the State Department flips the bird.
• A couple of men die in gruesome ways.  But they're bad guys...

MOVIE REVIEW MOM

@trinaboice