‘Breaking’ Film: John Boyega Is Almost Strong Enough to Carry ‘Breaking’

Say this for Abi Damaris Corbin’s Breaking: Its release is well timed. Most obviously: As the nation laments/rejoices over President Biden’s announced intention to forgive massive quantities of student debt (or shift it to taxpayers, depending on your point of view), here we have a story about a struggling soul who makes the desperate decision to take hostages inside a bank — because of a snafu related to student debt.

Slightly less obviously: Many American cities are grappling with crisis-level homelessness — a level that involves at least 20 percent veterans and 33 percent mentally ill people, according to some estimates — and our protagonist here is a homeless Marine veteran who has “episodes” and believes that his brother is part of a cult that put a price on his head and tried to kidnap him on multiple occasions. And while debate continues to rage over questions of race and law enforcement, it’s hard not to wince when a black man asks a woman about another bank holdup she’s witnessed, learns that the perpetrator was arrested but not killed, and immediately concludes, “He must have been white.” There is also the plight of the American veteran who attempts to make good on the debt owed him by his country — but that’s more of an enduring ill. Still: a timely movie.

ML

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Matthew Lickona

Matthew Lickona is a writer and editor living in Southern California. From 2010 to 2019, he was a film critic for the San Diego Reader.

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Say this for Abi Damaris Corbin’s Breaking: Its release is well timed. Most obviously: As the nation laments/rejoices over President Biden’s announced intention to forgive massive quantities of student debt (or shift it to taxpayers, depending on your point of view), here we have a story about a struggling soul who makes the desperate decision to take hostages inside a bank — because of a snafu related to student debt.

Slightly less obviously: Many American cities are grappling with crisis-level homelessness — a level that involves at least 20 percent veterans and 33 percent mentally ill people, according to some estimates — and our protagonist here is a homeless Marine veteran who has “episodes” and believes that his brother is part of a cult that put a price on his head and tried to kidnap him on multiple occasions. And while debate continues to rage over questions of race and law enforcement, it’s hard not to wince when a black man asks a woman about another bank holdup she’s witnessed, learns that the perpetrator was arrested but not killed, and immediately concludes, “He must have been white.” There is also the plight of the American veteran who attempts to make good on the debt owed him by his country — but that’s more of an enduring ill. Still: a timely movie.