Kidnapping

I liked the overall plot of this movie but thought something was missing. The acting was good and there was a lot of action. It didn't seem like it would cost a lot of money to produce a movie like this. There was a couple parts that didn't make sense to me but I don't think I'll bother to watch again. The previews kinda reminded me of the movie buried so I was hesitant to watch. It didn't matter to me how or why the guy was put in the trunk. It was tiring watching him try to get out. I got more into the movie as it progressed and was thrown off at the ending. Overall it was okay but could of been so much better. Definitely a one time watch only movie for me.

The entire movie Brake is set in the trunk of a car. I'm not kidding. You might think that premise sounds ridiculous and boring. But think of 127 hours during which most of the movie takes place in a cranny of rocks or Buried in which the entire movie takes place in a coffin. Brake lives up in comparison to those two titles, plus add a little bit from The Game into the mix and it's a pretty fun ride. The main character reminds of Bruce Willis at times and he had Willis' Die Hard intensity even when he's not swinging down a skyscraper from a fire hose through a window but stuck in, well, like I said, the trunk of a car. I was presently surprised by Brake. I recommend it. There isn't a dull moment.

This movie is really great. I was in LA last fall visiting a friend and she invited me along to a screening of this movie in Santa Monica. It was on a Sunday morning and when she told me what it was about, I really thought there would never be enough mimosas at brunch to make this worth sitting through. But I was shocked. THIS MOVIE IS TERRIFIC. From start to finish I was hooked. Yes, it's in the trunk of a car, but the action is non-stop. Great action scenes, very clever plot twists and a big surprise ending that I did not see coming. And it's not what you expect at all. My friend hated the ending. I loved it. The actor Stephen Dorff is really great. I knew him from Bade and thought he'd fallen off, but I think this will give him a big boost, because he is really great in this. Never really thought he was that good until I saw him in this. He really brings it. Seek this film out and you'll be pleasantly surprised. This is far from a cheap knock off of other movies. It's an original and cool movie. I'm glad to find it here on IMDb and see that it's coming out.

I must say I liked the movie. Would I watch it again? No. Up to the very end the movie was very interesting and it has been thus far - by my standards one of the best movies that you see 1:20mins only one actor acting.

Acting was good to great. Special attention was given to verbal communications to convey meaning and a big thumbs up for that.

Cinematography and editing was very good, too. It does not get boring or repetitive and the movie maintains an edge right close to the end. Very clever script actually.

I would spoil the movie if I continue to speak about the ending but If you haven't read many reviews (that could spoil the end) and like mystery flick I would recommend this movie.

7/10 for the clever movie but loses some point for the ending.

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.