Review: 'Breaking' gives John Boyega a meaty character in a veteran at his low point, but there's too much going on around him

A strong ensemble cast — led by John Boyega, Nicole Beharie and the late Michael K. Williams — can’t quite overcome the narrative confusion of director Abi Damaris Corbin’s “Breaking,” which tries to examine a real-life hostage incident from a few too many angles.

Bodega plays Brian Brown-Easley, who walks into a Wells Fargo branch in Marietta, Ga., one summer morning in 2017 to withdraw some cash. He banters, charmingly and politely, with a teller, Rosa Diaz (Selenis Leyva) — but the banter stops when Brian hands Rosa a note with four words on it: “I have a bomb.”

Across the bank floor, manager Estel Valerie (Beharie) sees something is brewing, and starts quietly telling customers and coworkers to get out of the building. By the time Brian gets loud with his demands, only Estel and Rosa are left in the bank, and the police are on their way.

Outside the bank, the predictable scene unfolds. Squad cars, followed by SWAT teams, the police chief (Robb Derringer) talking to reporters, helicopters flying overhead, and a sniper looking for a clear shot. The officer leading the response, Maj. Riddick (Jeffrey Donovan), argues with the lead negotiator, Sgt. Eli Bernard — played by Williams in one of his last movie roles; he died in September 2021 — who eventually talks to Brian and learns they have something in common: They both served as Marines.

Brian explains to Estel and Rosa, and to anyone who will listen, that he doesn’t want the bank’s money. Rather, he wants the monthly disability check he gets from the Veterans Administration, which was unfairly diverted to pay down a debt he said he had already paid.

Through the ordeal, the phone is a lifeline for Brian. He tries to reach his ex, Cassandra (Olivia Washington), and their daughter, Kiah (London Covington). And he gets in touch with a local TV producer (played by Connie Britton), who sympathetically tries to interview Brian and hook up to Eli and the police.

Boyega gives a dynamic performance as the ex-Marine at the end of his rope, and he’s best matched with Beharie as the bank manager trying to keep her fear in check, and Williams as the negotiator trying to make sure everyone gets out alive — no sure thing when most of the people outside the bank are cops with guns.

The problem with “Breaking” is that Corbin and her co-screenwriter, playwright Kwame Kwei-Armah, try to cram all those side stories into the film, and only a few of them rise above the cacophony. In the process, the movie’s message — something about how systems can crush people’s spirits, particularly when those people are of color — gets lost in the noise.

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‘Breaking’

★★1/2

Opens Friday, August 26, at theaters everywhere. Rated PG-13 for some violent content, and strong language. Running time: 102 minutes.

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This review originally ran on this site on January 23, 2022, when the movie premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival (under the title “892”).