|
|
  
Back Shelf Beauties
|
Breakin' All The Rules Jamie Foxx stars as Quincy - a magazine editor and writer who has run into some trouble with the ladies. On the night he is supposed to announce his engagement, the fiancée dumps him and runs off to Paris. Distraught and directionless, Quincy puts all of his energy into writing a book about the proper way to dump someone, and it becomes a huge hit. Soon, everyone wants his advice on how to dump his girlfriend, he gets wrapped up in several relationships, and might be falling for his cousin's girlfriend, Nikki (Gabrielle Union). Is Quincy in hot water, or in the middle of some hot lovin'? Breakin' All The Rules has moments when it is very good, but it doesn't maintain that high level throughout the movie. While some of the themes and plots are clichés, writer/director Daniel Taplitz provides great dialogue for a few key scenes, especially the flirty and romantic scenes between Nikki and Quincy. However, the movie would have benefited from more focus on Quincy's book. Taplitz should have provided more interaction between the book, the rules Quincy sets in it, and how they are being applied. Some of that is in the movie, but not enough. That aspect of the movie suffers from another plot where Quincy is helping his boss (Peter MacNicol), and it isn't going well. While Breakin' All The Rules is not perfect, it does have a strong cast that helps cover up the flaws. Union seems to get better and better in every movie. Her performance is very natural, and she excels at the playful banter between Nikki and Quincy, while also delivering the laughs with the comic scenes. She will be a huge star if she can find the right movie and right role to propel her to the top. Bring It On and Deliver Us From Eva helped, but she is just on the cusp of being a huge star. Morris Chestnut, as cousin Evan, and MacNicol are a strong supporting team, even though MacNicol takes his comedy a little over the top at times. As for Foxx, he suffers from the same inconsistency as the movie. Instead of letting the dialogue and the situations work for him, Foxx sometimes slips into mugging- mode, like he would in a typically silly, slapstick type of movie. Breakin' All The Rules is a battle of the sexes movie that many can enjoy if Troy is sold out. 2 Waffles (Out Of 4) Copyright 2004 - WaffleMovies.com
|
