Cinema Mishmash

Breaking and Entering, the last film by director Anthony Minghella before his tragic early death, has so much going for it on its surface that it’s true value — the ideas that lie underneath — almost go undetected. That just might be the definition for the ideal of entertainment cinema. The surface here is adorned with solid performances by Jude Law (as the likable dreamer in a struggle with his inner cad), Juliette Binoche (as the damaged, protective mom and widow displaced from Sarajevo) and Robin Wright Penn (almost unrecognizable as a damaged, protective mom (and Law’s partner) voluntarily displaced from Sweden). A great supporting cast includes Vera Farmiga (almost unrecognizable as an eastern European prostitue), Martin Freeman (as Law’s lovelorn business partner), newcomer Rafi Gavron (as Binoche’s troubled, free running son) and relative newcomer Poppy Rogers (as Penn’s troubled, gymnast daughter).

The above suggests the character parallels that form one of the many ideas which intertwine the characters and the narrative: Law and Penn’s relationship struggles are accentuated by Rogers’ undefined obsessive condition, while Gavron’s athletic talents allow him to facilitate repeat robberies of Law’s new King’s Cross architecture firm, eventually causing the two families paths to collide in what may be irreparably destructive ways. While there are a few elements of the film which miss the mark (most notably a late scene between Penn and Law on the side of the road), the mark is set incredibly high by these actors and this talented director. Best of all, the film manages to simultaneously engage our brains’ receptors for beautiful people and dramatic tension while also planting subliminal provocative seeds about justice, honesty, theft (physical and emotional), and the complicated and multi-faceted ways in which parents seek to protect their children, for better or worse. Through these characters, we can choose to explore the universal conflict between sacrifice and self-nurturing. Or we can choose to simply root for which adults should end up in the bathtub together.