There is an interesting phenomenon in TV today. Even the best shows, the ones with the highest ratings and reviews, tend to stumble and fall in the 3th or 4th season. It is almost as if the original writers, when the show was being created, stored only enough story arcs to hum through the first two seasons, but then season 3 arrives ... and there is no gas in the tank.
I mention this because normally, for A-list productions from the major studios and networks, there is really no "film equivalent" for this phenomenon, since the A-listers usually have considerable checks and balances built-in to their systems, so that a script does not get green-lighted unless it is 100% ready.
Which brings us to Breaking Legs, an indie written and directed by young auteur Mark Marchillo. The first 15 minutes or so are a nice setup, promising the audience a cross between MEAN GIRLS, FLASHDANCE, and FOOTLOOSE. But those promises are never kept.
After the setup, and for the rest of the over-long and disjointed, helter-skelter, film, dialog goes in strange and unpredictable directions; the characters behave out-of-character; the viewer has trouble keeping track of who is doing what to whom; and the film in general becomes tedious and vexing.
Newcomer Liv Southard does a nice job of trying (emphasize "trying") to be the "glue" for the film and maintain interest, but she is fighting the script and director every step of the way down the elevator shaft.
And Chris Kattan's character is so horrifically written (he comes across more as an autistic stalker than a parental figure) that one cannot blame the actor alone for the end result.
