Brake (2012)

Thanks for the memories!

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

PROS: The best thing that BRAKE did was give you an intense film. From beginning to end there was something invigorating to be had. It really played on the psyche of the viewer as well. What I liked is how you thought with the character and not for the character. This means that the movie moved fast enough and smoothly enough so the watcher could feel and think in pace with the plot. The other thing that was shocking was the ending. The final section of the film was probably the most gut wrenching part. If you have ever experienced a feeling in real life where your heart drops and you feel so ridiculously heavy, that was the end of this movie. Although it was good, more like amazing, it was also sad and horrific.CONS: The one thing that I could say was negative about this movie was the fact that there was a ridiculous amount of plot holes. Too many questions and not enough answers. You'll understand when you watch the film, but a plot like this needs more motive and reasonable tactics. I just wished that there could have been more detail when it came to the plot.www.chorror.com

This film would have got a ten were it not for the ending. Stephen Dorff plays the lead with great acting ability, taking the viewer on a stressful ride into the unknown. Terror has many faces and he finds that its difficult to know who to trust when you work for the secret service.The premise is believable, the script well conceived and the acting fantastic.I really enjoyed the film and the roller-coaster ride of tension.Its a great thriller for 95 minutes, but then they decided to turn it into a farce.8 out of ten

At first, I thought I'd want to see this film as another take on the topic covered in recent films (Antoine Fuqua's "Olympus has Fallen" and Roland Emmerich's "White House Down". As I watched the film at home, my wife looked up from the book she was reading and made two comments during the course of the film:***SPOILER FOLLOWS*** (from here throughout) (Her comment, early on in the movie) "I hope this whole movie doesn't take place in the trunk of a car." Her intuition was right on the money...This is not a film for the claustrophobic. As one bad thing after another happened to the main character, she said (later on in the movie),"This has to be the most depressing movie you have ever seen. I knew he wasn't getting out."My wife was right in finding the film to be predictable in that respect. Now, I know I should have followed the sage advice of the Sidney Deane character (played by Wesley Snipes) in "White Man Can't Jump" when he tells Billy Hoyle (Woody Harrelson):"Billy, I have four words for you: 'Listen to the Woman'".Actually, there is a curious parallel between the two movies in that a loser struggles against his fate, almost surmounts his tragic flaw, and winds up in the end...losing. (Both losers are gamblers! Gamblers Anonymous take note--your services are needed.) At least in "White Man Can't Jump" the loser is not handing over the White House and the US President to a gang of terrorists/mercenaries which will lead to the inevitable fall of the US government. But why would the Secret Service entrust the most important secret of the government to a gambler loser? When you're the Secret Service, surely you have the means to discover that your most important agent has a gambling addiction, not to mention that his wife has been paid by mercenary terrorists... Come on!I was finally reminded of Cecil B. DeMille's classic 1949 film, "Samson and Delilah." Crucial point: The woman he loved betrays him, causing his inevitable downfall. The difference is that Samson commits a final heroic act. He regains his strength and, with no hope of escape, buries his enemies with him under a pile of rubble. (The ending of Samson and Delilah is not for the claustrophobic either). In "Brake" the main character is puny and weak--a loser--the villains are strong, powerful, and hold all the aces. So, in "Brake", evil triumphs over good (the premise of most horror stories), but it's the winning over insurmountable odds that provides the "feel good" to action movies. It's like, IF at the end of "Die Hard" the hero John McClane (played by Bruce Willis) gets thrown off the building by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) and falls to his death in a 70 foot drop--instead of the other way around. At least there won't be a "Brake 2." (Thank God!)

Make no mistake about it, Stephen Dorff owns this film. He did such an excellent job. Since he plays the only visible character for about 93% of the film, I can confidently say it's worth a watch despite the glaring flaws of the film. He's just that entertaining here.First off, I've never seen Buried, so my review will be unbiased in regards to that film - just keep that in mind. Overall, I thought the concept of Brake was pretty clever: Secret Service agent gets kidnapped; locked in the trunk of a constantly moving automobile by a group of mysterious terrorists; physically and mentally tortured by unconventional methods in order for them to get what they want. (As if any method of torture is conventional.) Will his character break (not BRAKE)? What exactly do the terrorists want and who are they? Will everything go according to plan along the way? You'll have to watch to find out. A lot of people have complained about the ending (or multiple endings) and the ability to predict some of the plot twists, like, before the prologue. (No, just kidding.) Seriously, it was way too easy figuring this movie out. That said, I still enjoyed it. Listen, with a plot of this nature there are only a few ways this could have ended - either the terrorist will get what they want out of agent Jeremy Reines (Dorff) or they won't. Everything in between is just a waiting game of HOW they intend to get it out of him, WHAT it is they want, and IF Dorff's character will make it out alive or not. When it comes down to it, the ending (or multiple endings) does provide you with the answers. What more do you want people?!Indeed, the plot is more than a bit far-fetched and I couldn't help but wonder why in the heck would anyone go through this much trouble to get something when there certainly were simpler (and probably more effective) methods to get the job done. I don't know, maybe they could have injected him with a truth serum or something. But then if that happened this wouldn't be called Brake; it'd be an entirely different movie. There are some other issues. There were a few revelations that the writer, Timothy Mannion, intended to be relevant towards the climax of the film but he came up short big time. They made no sense in context to what had happened earlier in the film and added no value to the outcome of the film. Also, for Reines to be such a highly trained and alert Secret Service agent, he was often too naive in certain circumstances when even Stevie Wonder would have seen the writing on the wall. No fault of Dorff's though, as once again, this is more a reflection of poor writing than anything else.Dorff was brilliant! That's why despite a cop out ending, sloppy writing, and plot elements so implausible that even M. Night Shyamalan would shake his head in shame, I still can't give it less than 7 stars. And that says a lot about Stephen's performance.