Breath – Movie Review
106 Minutes, Not Rated
Written by Adriana Marzagalli and John Real
Directed by John Real
Synopsis:
Lara Winslet is an expert geologist in volcanology. She is with her team to conduct some surveys, and one day decides to stay longer to finish some work. She has an accident, falling inside a hole in the ground and remains blocked inside there, where no one can neither see nor hear her. It is now a race against time to get out safely.
You know, this movie was pretty darned good…
…when it starred James Franco and was called 127 hours.
Not so much now.
In Breath, we have Lara trapped in a lava hole, injured, without a way out or enough food or water to last the seven days she believes it will be before anyone misses her.
Told through a series of lingering shots of the rough pit walls, flashbacks, and a more deadpan narration (by Lara) than Harrison Ford’s Blade Runner, Breath tries desperately to be profound but fails on nearly every level.
Neb Chubin plays Adam, a (married) co-worker, who (has previously and unseen by us) drunkenly professed his feelings to Lara, who brushed them off because they already have a special relationship and, you know, he’s married.
Her father, played by James Cosmo, is barely utilized, as the majority of the screentime is occupied by Lara (Rachel Daigh), who manages to be alone even when she’s in the company of Adam, her father, or her daughter, who is the subject of a great many of the flashbacks and narration.
And that narration is atrocious, did I mention that?
Look, this script must read incredibly, and might even have made a good, long short story or novella, but as written, it doesn’t translate to the screen at all. We are subjected to over ninety minutes of Lara either being silent, sitting in the hole, or waxing on in pseudo-philosophical/psychological drivel about how she’s weak and can’t finish anything on her own, and woe is she.
The film begins with the narration explaining that Lara hopes you aren’t expecting her to be alive at the end simply because she’s the one telling the story, because that doesn’t mean anything.
By the time we reach end of the film, past where we came in at the beginning, I just didn’t care whether Lara lived or died, and her varying revelations/epiphanies have provided nothing but an excuse to see if Rachel Daigh could carry a film of this type as many other actors have, both successfully and unsuccessfully.
Spoiler alert: she can’t.
At least not with this script.
And that’s what it boils down to, here: the script. The story is contrived, predictable, and completely devoid of anything worthy of the audience caring about.
Breath will be available digitally from Uncork’d Entertainment on May 3 and stars Rachel Daigh, James Cosmo, and Neb Chupin.
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