"Breakin’ All the Rules” (Screen Gems)
Jamie Foxx does everything he can with the material given him in the comedy “Breakin’ All the Rules,” but even an actor as talented as he can’t make something out of nothing. The script is weak and the comedy elements are weaker. “Breakin’ All the Rules” breaks the one sacred rule of entertainment – thou shalt entertain the audience.
Foxx plays Quincy, a man whose girlfriend, Helen (Bianca Lawson), jilts him at the start of the film. He takes his broken heart and uses the experience to write a “guidebook” to breaking up. It becomes a runaway best seller and suddenly Quincy is the expert of how to dump your lover.
His cousin Evan (Morris Chestnut) has decided to break up with his girlfriend Nicky (Gabrielle Union) before she has the chance to break up with him. He sends Quincy to a club where Nicky is going to be in order to sound her out on what she really thinks about Evan. Quincy meets her there but because she has cut her hair doesn’t recognize her. She tells him her name is Mary and they go out together.
Later Evan meets up with a girl named Rita (Jennifer Esposito). She thinks he is Quincy and he lets her think that is true. They have a fling but soon Rita is back trying to get Quincy’s boss (Peter McNichol) to marry her.
All of this is supposed to be a screwball type of comedy, but in reality it is just a screwball mess. None of these characters seem to have any sense, any sense of humor, or any sense of where they are going with their lives.
Foxx comes off as vaguely amusing while Chestnut is just bland to the extreme. Then there is poor Peter McNichol who is just annoying and aggravating in his role. Thank goodness the women come off a little bit better. Union is fascinating to watch while Esposito is sexy and attractive.
The movie is rated PG-13 for profanity and crude humor.
There is a lot of talent in “Breakin’ All the Rules,” a lot of wasted talent. This is a comedy that isn’t funny, and a romance that isn’t enjoyable. Foxx and friends are deserving of a better showcase for what they can do. This movie is a mess from beginning to end and a crashing bore to boot.
I scored “Breakin’ All the Rules” a snapped 3 out of 10.
