• Genres: Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller
• Tagline: Love is no ordinary crime.
• Plot Outline A Landscape Architect’s dealings with a young thief cause him to re-evaluate his life.
• Actors: Jude Law, Juliette Binoche, Robin Wright Penn, Martin Freeman, Ray Winstone, See more
• Directors: Anthony Minghella

Review

Imagine if all you ever ate was a steady diet of McDonalds or Burger King and all of a sudden, you had a meal at a really nice restaurant like `Panache’ in Newport, Oregon? Your system would probably go into shock.

“Breaking and Entering”, the new film from director Anthony Minghella (”The English Patient”) - well, that just cost the film a number of tickets - is a strange and unusual film. I liked the film, but I’m not sure if I enjoyed the film, because the journey is authentic, painful and believable.

Will (Jude Law) and Sandy (Martin Freeman, the British version of “The Office”) are two architects working on a major urban renewal project in the King’s Cross section of London. The area, best known as a place to get prostitutes and/ or drugs, is unsafe and ready for such a project. Will and Sandy move their offices into a nearby vacant warehouse. As Will and Liv (Robin Wright Penn), his girlfriend of ten years, deal with her behaviorally challenged thirteen year old daughter, Will has to deal with constant burglaries at his new office. One night, he spots Miro (Rafi Gavron) trying to break into the building. He chases Miro to his run down apartment block and watches as he returns home to his mother, Amira (Juliette Binoche), a Bosnian immigrant who makes a living tailoring clothes. Soon, Will `meets’ Amira and they begin an affair. And Amira learns Will holds the key to her son’s future. How far will this mother go to protect her son?

“Breaking and Entering” is a very interesting film, but it is almost entirely character driven. This is not a bad thing, but when you consider most of the films we are exposed to be story or action driven, it is a bit of a shock to the system. It takes some adjustment to get used to the mechanics of the film and settle in for the story.

Another problem is the film’s trailer paints the story as a thriller, like a game of cat and mouse occurs during the affair, like Binoche is prepared to dump some boiled rabbits into Penn’s cooking pots. It is nothing like this and a bit misleading to sell the film in this way. But let’s move beyond that misguided effort.

That said, Minghella creates some of the most believable, interesting characters these actors have ever played. It is almost painful to watch them on their journey. Each of the characters makes decisions affecting how their lives will play out, or change and these decisions and actions affect the story. The characters aren’t reacting to the story. They are changing it.

Jude Law’s Will is a complex character and the actor’s best role in a while. Will is absorbed in his work and has been in a relationship for ten years. He seems to be bitter that he and Liv (Penn) have never married and their relationship isn’t easy; her 13 year old daughter doesn’t sleep or eat properly and seems more than a little autistic, but they have been together for so long, they are a family. She is willing to put up with the long work hours because she recognizes he genuinely loves her.

As he deals with the struggles of his home life, and the lack of affection, he also deals with a large project at work, a new office and more. There is a lot of pressure on Will and he feels he can’t turn to Liv, because she has problems of her own.

Then the robberies start at their new office. Sick at losing his personal laptop, with personal photos and documentaries made by Liv, he decides to put a stop to it and stakes out the building at night, determined they will not be robbed a third time.

It would be very easy to make Will one dimensional, but Minghella takes the character to a different place. Because he has so many demands on his life, he recognizes that Miro could get in a lot of trouble. He is also intrigued by Amira and doesn’t turn the boy in. One thing leads to another and they begin an affair. These moments, played in concert with examples of his work and his home life, help create a portrait of an upper middle class man living in a major city.

As the story progresses, and Will makes certain choices, his character controls the destiny of his story and affect the rest of the people in his life. The final moments of the film seem very real and natural. Will makes a decision that seems a good fit for his life and his views.

Law portrays the character well. On the one hand, he is distraught and annoyed with his life. On the other, as much as he is fed up with his life, he has a long history with them and truly loves Liv and her daughter, who frequently calls him Dad. This relationship is interesting, painful and hard to watch. One moment, they are fighting about work hours, or dealing with trust issues or some of the girl’s problems, the next they are in love. The portrayal is all the more interesting because it seems so real and why it is slightly difficult to watch. Because his character has so much going on, so many internal problems, he seems real and lifelike. It almost feels like we are eavesdropping on his life.

Juliette Binoche is also very good as Amira, mother of Miro. As an immigrant to England, she recognizes the country has a lot to offer her son, but she also recognizes the bad influences in his life and watches sadly as these influences seem to take hold. As she struggles with trying to help him take advantage of his new circumstances, and make a life for their family, she also has to deal with her background, her religion and much more.