1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Monday, May 7, 2012

[5.50/10] Brake (2012)


Brake (2012)

Brief review: TV series director Gabe Torres hasn't made a feature film since his debut movie "December" back in 1991, and now he gives us "Brake" - a low-budget thriller, that sounds quite promising on paper, but ends up being a bit of a mixed bag. Conceptually, the film is way too similar to 2010's "Buried", starring Ryan Reynolds, and for that reason alone, "Brake" does not win any points for originality. That being said, the premise is still intriguing, the script is well-written and the curveball climax of the film is clever and makes up for lots of flaws. The problem with "Brake", however, is its limited, if truly claustrophobic, setting. Since almost the entire movie takes place in a trunk of a van, director Torres can't really impress us with gorgeous scenery or great visuals, therefore he relies on the amazing use of lighting and as much variety of camera angles as possible to make his movie looks slicker. Even though, he achieves that, the setting itself is just too boring and monotonous and that really brings the film down. Stephen Dorff has enough skill and talent to hold our interest throughout, and manages to carry the entire movie on his shoulders, but sadly, he's pretty much the only 'physical' character in the movie, and despite his tense and convincing portrayal as the confused and despaired, yet tough secret service agent, watching just him the whole time becomes way too tiresome at some point.

Overall summary: Despite the shockingly effective double twist in the end, and Stephen Dorff's exceptionally convincing 'one man show' performance, "Brake" gets too tedious too soon, because of its insanely limited setting and complete lack of supporting characters.

12 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Not sure if it's one I'd watch.
Not when I can just go back and see the Avengers again!

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Alex, LOL. Good point. I'd prefer to watch The Avengers again too.

Movies on my Mind said...

Not sold on this one, but you got me interested in AVENGERS.

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Movies on my Mind, this one is a hit'n'miss. Watch it only if you have some time to waste.

Avengers is amazing with a capital A. You should check it out as soon as you can.

Unknown said...

I will surely watch this! Great short review George!

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Elgart, watch it at your own risk :)

Unknown said...

Sure buddy! I will..

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

OK then. Let me know what did you think of it when you see it.

Crack You Whip said...

This is not one I would see, but I am with everyone else...loved the Avengers!

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Crack You Whip, The Avengers rocked my world. This one - not so much. :)

Unknown said...

I guess my original comment never showed. :( I love Stephen Dorff and think he is a terrific actor. I wish he would choose better scripts, though.

This sounds like one I will watch eventually, but you're right about the lack of originality as I did see Ryan in Buried. Great review. Sorry my first comment didn't come out. :)

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Mel, no it didn't. I guess something bad happened to it.

If you have seen Buried don't bother watching this one. It's not half as good.