Breakin' All the Rules (2004)

Thanks for the memories!

Excellent but underrated film

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

To be honest, I really enjoyed this movie. "Breakin All the Rules" is one of those captivating romantic comedies which no one knows who anybody else is, and where the protagonist gets his comeuppance in the end. And that's not a terrible thing, unless the plot is good, which it is. This movie has to offer us a compelling story and brilliant dialogue. Granted, this is a far cry from Jamie Foxx's best movie of 2004 (you can't compete this movie to "Ray" or "Collateral"), but it is still a movie to enjoy. Jamie Foxx is one of the top performers in the entertainment industry. He is effective in both comedy and drama and he could tackle any role that is thrown at him. He is that versatile. Foxx stars as Los Angeles Magazine Executive, Quincy Watson. He is also joined by his cousin Evan (Morris Chestnut). Watson's boss, Phillip (Peter MacNicol) promotes him to a job where he's assigned to fire people. If that's not bad enough, on the day he proposes to his girlfriend, she unceremoniously dumps him. This upsets him to the point where he resigns from his job claiming that there's a thin line between those two connections. He puts his writing experience to good use as he goes on to write a handbook giving advice on how to breakup with your loved ones. The book becomes a bestseller and his former boss, Phillip seeks advice on how to breakup with his current girlfriend, Rita (Jennifer Esposito), who's nothing more than a gold-digging harlot (to put it in better words). Then, Evan gets the notion that his girlfriend Nicky (Gabrielle Union) is fading out on him, and informs Quincy to meet him at a secretive place to tell everything about her. Quincy never met Nicky before and when last she saw Nicky, he had a new do, making her look like Halle Berry. Quincy converses with her like she was a different person and the two commence into a relationship. Rita, frustrated that Quincy's trying to break up with Phillip, breaks into his house, only to find Evan there and she sleeps with him, but she thinks she's with Quincy as a ploy to stop trying to breakup her relationship with Phillip. And so mistaken identity manifests itself.I'm sure it was concocted numerous times before, but "Breakin All the Rules" pulls this off flawlessly. At the beginning of his book, Quincy reads excerpts from his book and the advice he gives to his loyal readers. It's a real treat and an eye-opener and the witty dialogue is handled with absolute care. Sure it didn't fare at the box office and faded to obscurity after a while, but the DVD was a rocket buster. This movie, was one of the better formula comedies that exceeds that dreadful "New York Minute" this is a break from high-profile action movies that came out at the time like "Troy", The Day After Tomorrow" and "Van Helsing".

seems to me that this is where they got the idea for HITCH. this is a very good movie, funny, sarcastic, witty. jamie foxx is terrific, so is gabrielle union. i like the way that they wrote the story, the way that they set it up where the one person doesn't know what the other one is doing, and that they think that it's another person, i guess you just have to watch it to see what i mean. i think in real life that the "break up" book would be very helpful to a lot of people. now granted this isn't an action movie, so don't expect action, what however you should expect is a lot of laughs, and i don't mean a little, i mean tons of laughs, this movie will keep you in stitches the whole entire time,, my fav. character of course was the dog,, trying to get through the doggie door, then peeing when he get's stuck in the door , i thought that was cute.

This movie was one of those movies that you can actually sit down and watch with your girlfriend without having your buddies make fun of you afterward, I personally thought that the whole cast was well thought out it was funny and also holds true to many of those that have or don't really know exactly how to break up with someone, The main character goes thru a lot of changes from when he first starts out and although it might seem predictable at times you will really enjoy the ride all the way thru the end. This movies is one of the few movies that really doesn't leave any stone unturned, questions unanswered yet it makes you wonder did I ever do that to anyone or leave someone that way to produce a stalker... Its a great addition to the whole romance comedy genre.

Jamie Foxx stars as a guy just dumped by his fiancé who ends up writing a best selling book about how to dump significant others. Along the way, there are mistaken identities, gender and racial stereotypes, and a decided lack of comedy and wit. Gabrielle Union serves as the eye candy object of Foxx's affections by mistake when he's sent to dump her by his "player" cousin, Morris Chestnut, who specializes in booty calls that expire after three months. Due to a very subtle change in her appearance, Foxx doesn't recognize her as the person he's supposed to give the message to, and a romance between him and Union ensues.Parallel to this story, there is a sub-plot involving advice-giving to Peter MacNicol, who is trying to rid himself of gold-digging Jennifer Esposito. Kudos to the director for trying to make a comedy with black lead actors that are not all "urban" stereotypes. However, there are other tired routines that are apparent in the film. The black male "player", the dirty old white man, the dog joke that runs throughout the film, etc. The laughs are few and far between and rely more on the aforementioned devices (and ones similar to them), instead of actual sophisticated writing and character development. The film is rather formulaic, and, without further plot developments beyond my opening comments of this review, becomes static to the viewer. This is another disappointing, unsophisticated comedy with too few laughs on any level. ** of 4 stars.