Breaking Up

As Seen On TV

Breaking Up is a small film with just Russell Crowe and Salma Hayek in it, that doesn't do anything to distance itself from its theatrical origins. It does what it says on the tin: it's a film about the break up of the relationship between the two lead characters where there is nothing particularly wrong with it. And that's it.

Watching it, there is the distinct impression that the actors did this film for the challenge, the desire to 'act', to really get to know their characters, to get under the skin of a fictional creation, and all that other bollocks that actors go on about. For the audience, the only reaction is, "What are these two doing in this?" The film was made in 1998, which puts it prior to their cementing their names in Hollywood, so they probably thought they were helping to get made a small film, with real emotions, real locations, about real people and real problems. Which sounds condescending, personally.

The film starts with the two characters talking to the camera at the same time, trying to understand where it went wrong. The split screen used here is about as imaginative as the director gets, considering he also uses black and white in certain montage sections, as well as stills of the action in another. As it was a play, there is a lot of talking, some of which is supposed to be deep and meaningful, but isn't and only sounds like it is. We never really learn anything about them as people, and it appears to be a therapy-session-as-entertainment for the playwright.

This isn't an awful film, but it isn't any good either. I often wonder what attracts film starts to projects, and I would love to ask them why they decided to do this little flick, and wonder how long it took to make from start to finish. A bizarre curiosity from the CVs of an Oscar winner and an Oscar nominee.

Rating: DA