Break a Leg

Easily the best feature I saw at the Phoenix Film Festival, it deserved the best film award it received. The story is original. The writing is clever, funny and dark, and has a ring of veracity thanks to the writers' experience in the industry. The story structure is right on, with a satisfying climax. The acting was mostly terrific, especially Jennifer Beals -- I've never witnessed a better performance from her. John Cassini is right on the money, and the always great Molly Parker is great yet again. It's very well cast. My only complaint is that the psychedelic Shakespeare scene went on for far too long. Thanks for brightening an otherwise dreary Phoenix Film Festival.

After seeing 'Break a Leg' in Vancouver at the release party I thought it was a very enjoyable film.

I had a few outright belly laughs and some of the cameos (Eric Roberts in particular) were a scream. I haven't heard word about actual release date although I've heard it's close.

The story is simple but is mainly a vehicle for the characters and situations. The script is smooth and seamless, the plot develops effortlessly and the acting is comfortable yet fresh. This film has won at least one award from EACH of the film festivals it's been in, which is around 10 - 15 or so.

I highly recommend 'Break a Leg'.

This was the worst movie I saw at WorldFest and it also received the least amount of applause afterwards! I can only think it is receiving such recognition based on the amount of known actors in the film. It's great to see J.Beals but she's only in the movie for a few minutes. M.Parker is a much better actress than the part allowed for. The rest of the acting is hard to judge because the movie is so ridiculous and predictable. The main character is totally unsympathetic and therefore a bore to watch. There is no real emotional depth to the story. A movie revolving about an actor who can't get work doesn't feel very original to me. Nor does the development of the cop. It feels like one of many straight-to-video movies I saw back in the 90s ... And not even a good one in those standards.

I saw Break A Leg as the opening night film at the SF Indie fest on Feb 5th. Break A Leg follows the struggles of an actor (John Cassini) trying to make it in Hollywood. After continually losing out on roles to other actors, he resorts to violence to eliminate the competition.

This movie is very funny, and the audience was laughing throughout. The tone is a little uneven, particularly in the final third, but the well scripted dialogue and fine work by the actors pull it through in the end. John Cassini and Rene Rivera both do a great job in this movie. Hopefully both of them get a lot more work in the future. There are also a number of hilarious cameos by Hollywood regulars.

The film is shot pretty well, and most of the visuals look good. The sound left a little to be desired - some of the dialogue is a little muddy and hard to understand. (Note: this may be due to the theatre where I saw it. They had to restart the movie after we were about 5 minutes in due to 'audio difficulties.')

Overall, it's a decent but not great movie. I went with a group of six people to the movie and all agreed that there were some hilarious moments, but all-in-all it's a so-so movie. Is it worth a trip to the theatre? Maybe, if you like movies with an indie feel and enjoy send-ups of Hollywood. Is it worth watching if it ever came out on DVD? Definitely.

5/10

Fun facts:

-The director (Monika Mitchell) and the lead (John Cassini) are married.

-In a Q&A session afterwards, Monika Mitchell mentioned that there are a whopping 64 speaking parts in the movie.

Just saw this at the Phoenix Film Festival where it won the coveted Best Film Award. Suffice to say, I'm not quite sure why it won this award. I saw much better films at the festival. This was nothing special. Basically, about a struggling Italian character actor who decides to take matters into his own enraged hands to achieve his big break after pilfering in the rediculous film industry for too long. I was impressed with the cast they managed to get, esp. all the celebrity cameos. However, I felt this film felt like an old episode of "Tales From the Crypt" where the actor kills his competition more than anything else. I loved the climatic scene with the actor and and undercover cop who, for some rediculous reason, also happens to be very talented, but that's about it. I found the humour and plot to be very predictable and lame. The symbolism was truly putrid (Jennifer Beals gets her big casting break, then breaks her leg, how quaint!) There have been plenty of great films about the rage of rejection in the film business, murder in the entertainment industry, and paranoid psychotics, but this ain't one of them. It's amusing enough with great acting, cinematography and editing. But nothing truly memorable. Mainstream-pandering if anything else. 6/10.