Ladro e gentiluomo

Burt Reynolds has had a very shaky career. Truth be told he has made far more bad movies than he has good movies. I personally believe it is because of very poor choices, such as , lame cop movies, smokey and the bandit sequels and both cannonball run flicks. However, amongst the very large pile of "ruff" this movie is a real diamond. His character of "Earnie", the gruff but lovable experienced thief taking a young naive kid under his wing trying to teach him the ropes and tricks of the trade is done with such subtle depth by Reynolds, that it caught me completely and delightfully offgaurd. When you think about it, this was not a big budget movie and Burt gives a fantastic performance just like he does in "Boogie Nights", which is also not a big budget film. Yet when it is a huge budget movie, Reynolds tends to give rather unispired and perfunctory performances. Maybe he should stick with these indie flicks more often.

Burt Reynolds successfully ends a rather slow 1980's with a surprisingly good character part in this 1989 Samuel Goldwyn Pictures release. He portrays a veteran professional thief and safecracker who teaches a young novice how to be like him. Amusing crime caper.

I was the music editor on "Breaking In" the experience of working with Bill Forsyth was one of the highlights of my long career. I just wish everyone could see the Director's cut. It was head-and-shoulders above the release edit. It was a very strange hybrid...John Sayles and Bill Forsyth - produced by Sam Goldwyn Jr. I'll never forget the day when Bill got yet another huge list of changes Goldwyn wanted - at the end of the list he asked Bill to respond to the changes he wanted - and also asked Bill(who is a Scot) to recommend a single malt whiskey for a party he was having. Bill sent a case of whiskey to Goldwyn with a note saying "This should answer both of your questions" The name of the whiskey was "KNOCKANDHU" !

Burt Reynolds broke out of his leading man pigeonhole to attempt, for once, a more believable role, playing a middle-aged, low-rent burglar who enlists the help of a dumb but loyal grease monkey and then proceeds to give him lessons in both larceny and life. There are a few heists along the way, but this is more a character study than a caper film, and it works in large part because of the rapport and timing between Reynolds and his blue collar sidekick Casey Siemaszko. Both characters are losers, and it might be argued that losers make more engaging heroes, perhaps because they're easier to identify with. In the spirit of earlier Bill Forsythe films it's a slim but disarming comedy, with an extra measure of depth in the canny screenplay by John Sayles, as always the working man's champion, who along the way makes some minor but interesting points about the haves and the have-nots.

Often dubbed Burt Reynolds' big comeback (after a lackluster 1980s), though the term "comeback" really only applies to his choice of roles. Reynolds has always been a captivating actor, but his role selection hasn't always been stellar. In Breaking In, he teams up with pragmatic Scottish director Bill Forsyth and talented screenwriter John Sayles. Forsyth directs with a genuine interest in the choices people make in life, and Sayles creates a couple of sharp, engaging characters. Surrounded by solid material such as this, Burt, alongside the lively Casey Siemaszko, delivers a handful of standout, earnest scenes. Forsyth isn't aiming for groundbreaking conclusions here, but rather an intriguing character study - and that's exactly what this film is: an engaging piece of drama, with just the right dose of humour.