Breathe In (2013)

Truly Dreadful Film

Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Perfectly adorable

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

I have never watched any of the actors in this film other than Felicity Jones and this always intrigues me as I love to find new actress'/actors. Keith Reynolds (Guy Pearce) is a lonely man trapped inside the suburban style of living, a lovely wife and a beautiful daughter isn't enough as his own ambitions and life goals are being taken further and further away from him and you can obviously tell he resents not only his wife but his daughter for this too; Sophie (Felicity Jones) lost in her life and not sure what she wants to become stays with the family in New York and leaving her home in London. Both characters lonely and sharing a special bond between music become attached to each other believing they have figured out some sort of plan.. to just run away together. What I like about the film was that I felt Guy Pearce's' character wasn't necessarily 'in love' with Sophie but he wanted to be taken away as he said to her "I want you to stray me away" I felt he wanted something fresh.. to be in the city again as he fought with his wife about so often - and Sophie feeling alone after the loss of her uncle fell for the mature wiser man perhaps because the men around her were all so childish.. I feel Sophies want for Keith was stronger than his for her.In conclusion I love how open the dialogue was, how it made you question certain ideas, body language and looks... I really liked his wife Megan Reynolds' character but I also really liked Sohpie. I like a film that can make me think for myself and the ending I disagree completely with the 'predictable' ending.. I honestly wasn't sure how it would turn out but I think it turned out to have a very realistic take.Felicty Jone's acting is outstanding and I can't wait to watch more of her films.

Breathe In (2013)An exquisitely written story that belies its simple arc of a plot. On the surface this looks like a story of a married man falling for one of his students—been there done that so many times it might not survive another iteration. But here that basic hook is used to dig rather deeply into the problem of this man's life—not only why he might be tempted into a foolish affair, but why, in a weird way, it isn't (for him) foolish. The first half of this movie plays this out with finesse.The teacher is worked to a delicate balance by Guy Pearce, an ever thoughtful actor who seems perfectly cast. He's a musician who has turned to teaching music to make a living, and he clearly appreciates art and good music, always for the poetic depth it gives him. His wife (Amy Ryan) is superficial to a perfect degree—her interest is collecting cookie jars. And their daughter is a swimming star, cheerful but not a bit deep. Neither of them gives him a bit of what he really needs.So when a foreign exchange high school student—a budding pianist—arrives in their house, an obvious opportunity arises. And I don't mean for some fun or an emotional sidetrip, but for a revival of honest feelings for life. Felicity Jones plays this out with an expected mix of shy expectance and seductive depth.The second half of the movie, unfortunately, lets some of the restraint and delicacy crumble, and the more it descends (or rises, if you like excess) into unlikely extremes, the more it is just a story told for its plot twists. For me that became less interesting, especially because I so much liked the subtle writing in the beginning.The final scene brings home that the point of the movie really is about that pretense of happiness upper middle class (or upper class) families work so hard to keep. To everyone's detriment. There is a lot here to like in an ultimately compromised plot.

One of the problems with casting a person for a teenage role who is actually way older, is that you get an inaccurate depiction of what a teen is really like. This is true in terms of both looks and emotion.I admit that I've met some 18 year old girls who seemed way older. But I never saw them deal with life crises. I bet they would not have dealt with them the way a 28 year old would. Felicity Jones was much older in real life than the character she played. In reality the male lead was only 16 years older than her. But he is probably supposed to be about 25 years older.The attractive young woman who shares the male lead's interests and passions is a symbol of the disappointment of his life. His wife cannot relate to him, and perhaps never could. She was probably just humoring his musical lifestyle when they were young.Ironically, the young girl will probably grow up to be just like his wife. She'll want a house in the country and a husband with a steady conventional job.Not much happens in this film. It is all innuendo and atmosphere. But both of those are done beautifully. Upstate New York looks exquisite, the shots of the beautiful young woman are artistically pleasing, and the classical music fits the scenes perfectly.Credit is due to the actors for portraying longing, and stifling dissatisfaction with aplomb. You feel their desperation without them saying much. Having said that, I would have appreciated at least one monologue from the male about how he really feels. If he could take down his guard for a few minutes and let it all out, that would have made the film. You could still keep all the subtle moments, but let him break down once and tell us something about how it feels.My favorite scene is when the neighbor guy cavalierly says what is on both their minds. That was refreshing. He simply states that his neighbor has a hot young thing living with him and asks him what it's like. Then he says that it would be great to be young again.This was a piece of self-indulgent art, but certainly worth viewing if you have the patience. Great cinematography, stellar acting, and plenty of mood music.

Breathe In is developed with measure and subtleness, until the ending comes and co-screenwriters Drake Doremus (who was also the director) and Ben York Jones realize the fact that not many things have happened. It's only then when they set the characters free to manifest the explosive emotions which were slowly cooked during the rest of the film. However, it's already too late to save this tedious film, whose good performances can't compensate the lack of energy and of an interesting screenplay. We can imagine the route the screenplay will take from practically the first scene. Keith is happy with his wife and daughter, working as a music teacher in an exclusive local academy; but at the same time, he misses his youth, when he belonged to a rock group, and wonders whether his life could have taken a different road. Then, the attractive Sophie, mature for her age, comes full of life and passion... and the rest of the screenplay practically writes itself. On the positive side, we have competent performances from Guy Pearce, Felicity Jones, Amy Ryan and Mackenzie Davis. However, as I previously said, they can't compensate the fact that the screenplay is developed exactly like we expected, and even though the ending tries to throw some curves, they don't feel like an integral part of the story, but like a desperate strategy to simulate complexity where there wasn't any. In conclusion, I found Breathe In a boring and uninteresting drama, and I can't recommend it.