Delayed Reaction: Breathe

The Pitch: Andy Serkis is directing, but he isn't in it, and there isn't any motion capture.

The story of how Robin Cavendish defied all expectations after being struck down with polio when he was 28.

Not everyone has the opportunity to create a memorial for their parents. Jonathan Cavendish did, and now we have Breathe. You see, Jonathan happens to run a production company with Andy Serkis and his father's story is pretty remarkable. The movie made in his father's honor is much less remarkable.

While not a hagiography, Breathe is a movie with very few edges. That's not because Cavendish is hiding his family's dirty secrets (that I know of). There just isn't much to the story after the polio that's all that dramatic. Robin (Andrew Garfield) falls in love with Diana (Claire Foy). He gets polio, which paralyzes him. Then they keep finding ways to make his ventilator more mobile. And that's about it until the predictable end. Jonathan's parents are painted as nobly imperfect. Take away the polio, and this is a movie about a couple who is deeply in love, living a comfortable existence financially, go on adventurous vacations, and have a deeply loving circle or friends and family. I'm not sure that another producer would've developed the movie much differently, but everything in Breathe is a shade rosier than it would be in someone else's hands.

It's a fine movie though. Andrew Garfield can only act from the neck up. He does everything he can, but the role is more Simple Jack than Forrest Gump (to use Tropic Thunder parlance)*. I think Claire Foy is just great in everything. After The Crown, I kind of assumed it was perfect casting for a specific role. No. She's just good in everything. She may even get me to watch the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo sequel that I'm otherwise not looking forward to at all. Andy Serkis' direction is fairly invisible. I'm not sure there's anything he does that I wouldn't expect from anyone. I do mean that as more of a compliment. It's not Kevin Costner debuting with Dances with Wolves, but it's close enough to Ben Affleck directing Gone Baby Gone. I think he may have tried too hard to distance himself from what he does best though. That's why I have decently high hopes for Mowgli, which Netflix will be releasing soon.

*I should clarify. I'm referring to the degree of the performance, not saying that having polio means you are mentally disabled.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend