Masand's Verdict: Breaking and Entering

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Rajdeep Sardesai

26/11: Terror comes precariously close

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Cast: Jude Law, Robin Wright Penn, Juliet Binoche

Direction: Anthony Minghella

At the cinemas this week from Hollywood is the Anthony Minghella-directed film Breaking and Entering in which Jude Law plays Will Francis, an architect whose firm is currently working on the redesign project of London's King's Cross Station.

The new assignment's keeping Will extremely busy, and as a result he's spending less time with his beautiful, brooding partner played by Robin Wright Penn, and her troubled 13-year-old daughter who they're together raising.

Will's office gets repeatedly broken into, and on one such occasion he follows one of the thieves back to his apartment.

The thief is a teenage Bosnian refugee who lives with his mother and repairs clothes for a living. Subsequently Will embarks on a passionate affair with the boy's mother, a role that's played by the beautiful Juliet Binoche.

What I loved about this film is the feeling of restlessness that it reeks of. It's not a pretty film about perfect relationships, in fact most relationships in this film are strained, and that's what I thought was interesting about this picture.

Unlike Anthony Minghella's previous films The English Patient and Cold Mountain, this one's not an epic, sweeping saga, in fact it's a much more intimate, personal story, closer to his other film The Talented Mr Ripley if you like.

I think Breaking and Entering is a film that's unsettling and a little bit disturbing, it's sad and it's heart-breaking, but those are exactly the reasons why it's so watchable and so engaging.

If you like your romantic films a little complex then I'd advice you not to miss Breaking and Entering, it's got a slow burning passion to it, that's both rare and unique.

Also, Jude Law is fantastic in it, and that itself should be enough reason to watch this film. I'm going with three out of five and a thumbs up for Anthony Minghella's Breaking And Entering, don't expect any easy answers because it's a film that's as layered as human nature itself.

Rating: 3 / 5 (Good)