Break Point

I really loved this movie - its very funny and has a lot of heart. Break Point stars the very handsome Jeremy Sisto (who also wrote and produced the movie). He plays Jimmy, a foul mouthed, over the hill tennis player who wants to try for the US open. He has to convince his estranged brother Darren (David Walton) to play with him but it's not easy because years ago Jimmy dumped him as his partner. Throughout the movie the two brothers fight but somehow manage to become close on and off the court. The movie has a great supporting cast with J.K. Simmons as Jimmy and Darren's father, Amy Smart as the woman Darren is in love with, and Joshua Rush as a lonely child who befriends Darren. Break Point has a lot of really funny scenes - I laughed out loud more than once. Jeremy Sisto gives one of the best performances of his career. This is a terrific, heartwarming movie about family. I highly recommend it.

Jimmy Price (Jeremy Sisto) is a tennis player on his last legs. He antagonizes everybody including his doubles partner. He needs a new partner. His veterinary father Jack (J.K. Simmons) suggests his younger brother Darren (David Walton) despite double-crossing him when they were younger. Darren is a substitute teacher who is befriended by a clingy boy named Barry. Darren is taken with Jack's assistant Heather (Amy Smart) who has boyfriend Gary. Barry opines, "Our names rhyme. It's mildly amusing".

One gets the feeling that this was written as a wacky comedy but it's at best mildly amusing. Neither Sisto nor Walton are outright comedians although they sometimes do comedic acting. In this one, they don't really try that hard. The lines are sometimes there but the delivery is flat. I keep thinking this is a Will Ferrell comedy without Will Ferrell. It might be better to go darker and more serious with the story. Or just give it to Ferrell for him to go completely nuts.

This is fantastic little movie about family and brotherhood and even if you don't know much about tennis, you'll find a thing or two that you can appreciate about BREAK POINT. Funny and heartwarming, a pleasant surprise. Great ensemble cast: Jeremy, David, Amy, Vincent, J.K. and Joshua are a delight to watch.

One of the things appealing about BREAK POINT is that there is strength in its simplicity. Whereas other movies would spend a lot of time and try too hard to be all profound when it doesn't need to be, BREAK POINT accomplishes depth and profundity in just 90 minutes and it doesn't shove them down our throats. Yes, it's a comedy, but one that's so engaging with themes that are so common, this is a comedy that leaves you feeling hopeful in the end whatever the result of the tennis match may be. There's a bit of 'Rocky' in there, there's a bit of sibling friction and a bit of mentorship as well, you can't help but like BREAK POINT, it's simply irresistible and effective.

Jeremy Sisto plays the reckless man-child Jimmy who's at his age when other tennis players just don't see him as having any future in the sport, his last partner drops him just as he's planning to enter a grand slam tournament, and so in desperation, he reaches out to his childhood partner, his estranged brother Darren whom he dropped years ago. Darren, a more reserved and conservative tennis player still feels the hurt after all these years but after being convinced by an 11-year old named Barry who looks up to him, Darren decided to take his brother up on his offer and so goes their journey to train together and re-learn and re-discover their game once again while finding out what it means to be brothers.

This Jimmy and Darren dynamic reminds me of the Odd Couple, as if Oscar Madison and Felix Ungar were on the Tennis court. The jokes are rated R but they're on target and edgy, Jeremy Sisto in particular gets to say the best lines in this film, and young actor Joshua Rush excellently holds his own in the midst of these two adult brothers trying to prove themselves once more. And in a way, it's also a dudes type of movie and I don't mean that in a sexist or one-sided manner, what I mean is that the way the brothers resolve their conflict is like any regular dudes would, meaning whatever resentment we may have, we can easily shrug it off, sometimes, not in all cases, but we don't talk about it for hours, we'd pull a 'forget about it' card and that's why I think BREAK POINT speaks more truth than most of the movies about brothers I've seen out there.

One thing is for sure after watching this movie. I will never watch a movie again about tennis. Tennis in real life is a little bit boring but in a movie it is an absolute disaster. Half of the movie it is just movie shots of the ball bouncing back and forth. So when it's not even a real competition it's really boring, like watching somebody practice, there is absolute no joy in that besides for the player himself. Now I thought there would be a little bit of humour in it, but even that is not good. It's the kind of humour that sometimes make you have a tiny little grin and then you hope there will be more and better. But that never happens in the whole movie. If you have absolutely nothing else to do just go out and play tennis yourself, you will be more entertained.

A great film. Just as the two brothers playing tennis way out of their league, maybe also Gene Hong (the writer) and Jay Karas (the director), who have done much more TV than movies, could have shared the same feeling. And the same could be said for David Walton (Darren), Vincent Ventresca (the great Gary) or Joshua Rush (the even greater Barry).

But, believe me, this is a great film with a great cast and the above mentioned actors star greatly along with Jeremy Sisto, JK Simmons and Amy Smart.

The story is funny and enjoyable, the characters are so nice you'll easily find yourself hoping for a sequel. Everything is perfect, cheering and entertaining. My kind of comedy.