Breathe (2017)
Directed by Andy Serkis
Based on the true story of Robin, a handsome, brilliant and adventurous man whose life takes a dramatic turn when polio leaves him paralyzed.
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What critics compared Breathe to
But after the Academy Award-winning “The Theory of Everything” (2014) and the recent and less edifying Emilia Clarke vehicle “Me Before You” (2016), are we in danger of overdoing this theme and turning it into a kind of “My Left Foot” art film franchise?
The film’s third act follows a familiar tactic last seen in the weepie Me Before You, setting a dangerous precedent that the only agency – and “freedom” – for disabled people comes in death.
Much like last year’s Me Before You which also dealt with an adventurous man’s life drastically turned upside down, Breathe explores the often frustrating restrictions of disabled life although this time with more extreme circumstances, but from a far less technologically advanced standpoint.
Garfield’s earnest public image combined with his achingly sincere theatrical history—Never Let Me Go, Hacksaw Ridge, Silence, Breathe, his recent turn as Prior in the latest revival of Angels in America—makes the believability of his asshole-gone-wild character all the more unexpected.
For Garfield , after the strenuous heroics of “Hacksaw Ridge,” “Silence” and “Breathe,” it must have been a relief to play a deadbeat who smokes, drinks, has sex, breaks into apartments, crashes parties and beats up naughty kids (not all at the same time).
Yet after living in the afterglow of similar themed films such as The Theory of Everything , The Sessions and The Intouchables, it begs to question just what can Breathe represent to make it stand apart from other films of its ilk?
It’s not even as moving as similar paralysis films like The Intouchables and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly but it is more suspenseful.
The budget is all on screen and, with motion capture maestro Andy Serkis at the helm (his second directorial stunt – he made his debut with the period piece/love story Breathe, which was a less natural match for his talents than this one), the special effects look better than in Venom.
Overseeing it all is Serkis, who understands the technology required to get the necessary virtual performances better than almost anyone, but demonstrates almost no vision as a director (this despite showing promise with earnest awards-bait drama “Breathe” and dark, ultra-ambitious CG “Jungle Book” adaptation “Mowgli”).
The original director, Ruben Fleischer, was replaced by Andy Serkis (“Breathe”), the actor who played Gollum in “The Lord of the Rings.”
He made a small dent with his earlier efforts, the traditional love story Breathe (2017) and the visually stunning Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle , 2016’s live-action adaptation of the Rudyard Kipling classic that streamed on Netflix.