Break Up

"The Break Up" is not a thriller or a mystery or an action flick. It's a somewhat disjointed and flawed drama with Fonda at the center delivering a solid performance. There is just enough meat on the bones of this flick to give the viewer something to chew on as long as expectations aren't too high. An okay journeyman flick recommended for Fonda or Sutherland fans.

Not much director Paul Marcus could do with an inane story line and some of the worse acting jobs ever in a film. I continue to be amazed and amused at why Bridget Fonda continues to work in films. Is it the Fonda name that keeps her working? In this one she shows the gamut of emotions from 0-1. Deadpan expressions, lack of any acting style, I think she thinks being a deaf mute means a mute performance. Worst acting award continues to go to this no-talent actress. And right beside her is another inept actress, Penelope Ann Miller. Haven't seen her do anything interesting yet on film. Why does she continue to get cast? Kiefer Sutherland, whom I admire, gets nothing worthwhile in this flick. What a waste. He tries. And Steven Weber, whom I admired greatly in JEFFREY, gets dumped on in this one. Another waste of a good talent. However, I did like the work of Hart Bochner, whom I have never seen before. He gives an interesting performance as the abusive murderous husband. And I liked the dog, too!

What a horrible waste of time, energy and money, and I'm talking about me, not the producers! A horrible plot line, very bad acting and totally predictable outcome. It even took the director ten extra minutes of shooting scenes after the "climax" of the movie to figure out how to end it! I'm still trying to figure out why they made Fonda's character deaf, it really didn't come into play in the movie. Far fetched scenes with the husband and his self-mutilations. Minute after minute of nothing really happening on screen, it seemed they were just trying to figure out how to stretch the length. How anyone could be "held in suspense" by this movie is beyond me. No drama, no acting, no believable plot line and hopefully no more people will spend a dime on this movie. One of the worse!!

Nothing great here but a nicely acted story about an abused deaf wife (Fonda) of a small time crook (Bochner)who gets involved with one of her husband's plans and his mistress. Sutherland and Weber are cops drawn into what turns out to be a unmysterious murder investigation and the story just flows along.

The plot was really weak and confused. This is a true Oprah flick. (In Oprah's world, all men are evil and all women are victims.)