June 10, 2023

Day: 10, Movie: 10

The June Swoon 2 continues today with Breaking, a movie based on a true story starring John Boyega.

Former Marine Brian Brown-Easley (John Boyega) “is denied support from Veterans Affairs, financially desperate and running out of options, he takes a bank and several of its employees hostage, setting the stage for a tense confrontation with the police.” (IMDB)

John Boyega was amazing as the desperate Marine was and how he was trying to shine a light on the problem that he was facing. It was not just that he needed the money, which he did, but he wanted that the VA, which had denied his money, to make things right.

Boyega showed how troubled Brian was, both with the situation and with the mental aspect. He was more than just a troubled man. He was shown to be a good man even though the two hostages he kept in the bank were afraid for their lives. Nicole Beharie and Selenis Leyva are tremendous as the two bank employees remaining as hostages. The negotiator was played by Michael Kenneth Williams and he brought an empathy unlike most any other character in the film.

There was a lot of tension developed in the film by not only the situation but also the character dialogue. You were never sure exactly what was going to happen. You might feel that this situation was going to end up tragic, but there were plenty of uncertainty about what was going on. That made this an effective way to create a mood.

I am not sure if the film was able to shine enough of a light on the problem facing Brian. There are issues with the way the VA treats some vets and this film touched on it, but it needed to go into it more if they wanted it to be a message.

Breaking was a film that I had always heard positives about, but I never got around to seeing it in the theater or on streaming. It made a great film for the June Swoon 2.