Breaking In Review - Gabrielle Union is One Bad Mother

Breaking In, from Universal Pictures and Will Packer Productions, the story of one women who, to save her children, sets up strategic strikes, overtaking armed psychotics, fighting sure death in a race against time.

Directed by James McTeigue, and written by Ryan Engle, Breaking In stars Gabrielle Union, Billy Burke, Ajiona Alexus, Seth Carr, Richard Cabral, Levi Meaden, Mark Furze, Jason George, Christa Miller and Damien Leake.

Breaking In opens with Isaac, played by Damien Leake, sitting in a extremely well appointed walk in closet listening to the morning news. Pausing the voice over explains the D.A. is looking into criminal charges even before we know his name, we know, as he opens the drawer to a double row of very expensive and elegant timepieces, he is the CEO under investigation.

Stepping out of the luxury hotel he calls home, Isaac blocks out the city noise with headphones and begins his morning routine, a daily jog through the streets of Chicago. Pausing in a residential section, he steps into the street and in an instant he is hurled into the air by an approaching truck. Still alive, he attempts to ask when the driver, who is not visible brings down a boot on his head, killing him.


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With a vast estate, the business of endings can be even more complicated and now as Shaun Russell, played by Gabrielle Union, is attempting to work through her father’s holdings she and her two children, Jasmine, played by Ajiona Alexus and Glover, played by Seth Carr, are traveling to her childhood home, which as we hear from Glover reading the description in a real estate guide to better homes, is quite expansive, sitting on more than an acre of wooded land.

Upon arrival, the house which is ultra-modern, with a security system, including in home monitoring, motion detector interior and exterior monitoring, retractable windows, heat sensors, auto locks, which can be accessed and overridden from a security room where on three monitors every room in the house can be seen and an extensive floorplan which tracks by motion detection exact whereabouts.

Glover who in ten minutes has the security system handled, explains it is so simple even she could operate it and the entire system is manages by a handheld remote control.

Without knowing the real issues, Shaun and her Dad had father-daughter issues, whatever it was as his only heir she inherited everything and had to prepare the property for sale. Her childhood memories had longed been packed away, and while she is ordering a pizza and confirming delivery of the real estate papers, she notices the garage door has been raised.

The house has been empty for a while, and one never really knows, so lifting the garage door she finds a circular saw on the floor, plugged in with fresh trimmings on the floor, and the land lines service had been cut. The security system has a built in 90 minute wellness check; if contact isn’t made within that time frame, police are called.

Still unsure of the extent of the trouble, she is walking back to the house to check on the kids, when a man comes up behind her.

This is where Breaking In becomes the thriller, a fight against insurmountable odds, as four men, all former convicts have taken over the house, and taken the kids hostage as they were told Isaac kept a hidden safe with a considerable amount of cash. Free and clear.


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I really enjoyed Breaking In. A character driven story with heightened suspense, haunted house style pop-ups, impossible odds, as two indomitable forces, one driven by greed and the other by the determination to rescue her children, face each other in a series of unplanned challenges.

Even as Gabrielle Union is billed as the star of the film, the ensemble cast all bring great moments with the Ajiona Alexus and Seth Carr both hit the marks as older sister caught up in the world of phones, boys, playlists and the tech savvy drone playing security master pre-teen.

Fear, as our main thug, Eddie, played by Billy Burke, explains is manageable, desperation is uncontrollable.

Breaking In has the unexpected moments, heightened suspense, and from the beginning has a haunted house, surprise around every corner, hooks that keep the audience guessing.

Breaking In is playing in theater everywhere. See it.

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