Breaking In |Gabrielle Union| 2 ½ out of 4 stars
By Kyle Osborne
It isn’t high art, but the unpretentious thriller Breaking In is a good version of what it is: a popcorn thriller that features a relatable heroine going against some bad guys who have unwisely messed with the wrong mama bear. Yes, it’s formulaic, but so is Diet Dr. Pepper— and I like that formula.
A shocking prologue will have you jumping out of your seat within minutes, and then gripping it during the tight hour and a half that follows. Director James McTeigue (V for Vendetta) and Gabrielle Union bring more class to this genre pic than you’d normally expect, even if Its craftsmanship is more notable than its artistic value.
Union and her two kids have come to stay at the ultra tricked-out mansion that belonged to her father, before his untimely murder. After they’re in for the night, but before they can even order a pizza, they find themselves the victims of a home invasion by four robbers. This is no random crime—the villains have come looking for a safe full of cash and they’re not leaving without it.
And that’s about all the set up you need. People get locked in, and locked out and chased about—but it all comes down to the Mom being far more clever than the crooks. Will her smarts overpower their brutality? Will she have to tap into her own dark side to even out the playing field? Is a mother’s love stronger than a convict’s desperate greed?
Well, of course, I’d never tell.
Breaking In is rated PG-13 (for violence, menace, bloody images, sexual references, and brief strong language). It runs 88 minutes.