Breaking In

Burt Reynolds successfully ends a rather slow 1980's with a surprisingly good character part in this 1989 Samuel Goldwyn Pictures release. He portrays a veteran professional thief and safecracker who teaches a young novice how to be like him. Amusing crime caper.

Burt Reynolds broke out of his leading man pigeonhole to attempt, for once, a more believable role, playing a middle-aged, low-rent burglar who enlists the help of a dumb but loyal grease monkey and then proceeds to give him lessons in both larceny and life. There are a few heists along the way, but this is more a character study than a caper film, and it works in large part because of the rapport and timing between Reynolds and his blue collar sidekick Casey Siemaszko. Both characters are losers, and it might be argued that losers make more engaging heroes, perhaps because they're easier to identify with. In the spirit of earlier Bill Forsythe films it's a slim but disarming comedy, with an extra measure of depth in the canny screenplay by John Sayles, as always the working man's champion, who along the way makes some minor but interesting points about the haves and the have-nots.

Even though I appreciate Burt's bombastic,snide,cocky,gum chewing persona of old it was fun seeing him as vulnerable and pragmatic. I love caper movies and even though this one is tongue-in-cheek it is quite entertaining. I especially love the cat-burglar genre. Siemaszcko does a nice job of combining the youthful and arrogant with the need for those "coming up" to learn from a mentor. The movie doesn't take itself seriously but provides a good relationship story. Alot of fun if you just let it happen to you without analyzing every aspect. If you liked Siemaszcko in this check him out in Young Guns, and 3 o'clock high.

Burt Reynolds has had a very shaky career. Truth be told he has made far more bad movies than he has good movies. I personally believe it is because of very poor choices, such as , lame cop movies, smokey and the bandit sequels and both cannonball run flicks. However, amongst the very large pile of "ruff" this movie is a real diamond. His character of "Earnie", the gruff but lovable experienced thief taking a young naive kid under his wing trying to teach him the ropes and tricks of the trade is done with such subtle depth by Reynolds, that it caught me completely and delightfully offgaurd. When you think about it, this was not a big budget movie and Burt gives a fantastic performance just like he does in "Boogie Nights", which is also not a big budget film. Yet when it is a huge budget movie, Reynolds tends to give rather unispired and perfunctory performances. Maybe he should stick with these indie flicks more often.

What makes this buddy crime comedy work rests essentially on it's sympathetic characters. Delivered here in traditional veteran/rookie fashion,the story paces along steadily as young and endearingly misguided Mike (Siemaszko) is given life lessons in the art of safe cracking by world-weary professional Earl (Reynolds). The chemistry between the two leads allows for cleverly-conceived comedic scenes to shine forth beautifully. From the moment of their initial accidental meet-up, you are instantly hooked. The film's best quality though is it's ironic approach to burglary, for Earl talks of "The Job" as though it were a viable career option! This is Sayles' savvy screenplay technique undoubtedly shining through. Guided by Forsyth's refined direction, this comedy never veers into slapstick, distinguishing it from the later inferior 'Safe Men'. It never strives to be what it isn't, and so it rarely disappoints. A similarly-styled, yet darker film worthy of viewing is Saul Rubinek's 'Jerry and Tom'.

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars