Set in a blighted, inner-city neighbourhood of London, Breaking and Entering examines an affair which unfolds between a successful British landscape architect and Amira, a Bosnian woman – the mother of a troubled teen son – who was widowed by the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
As with all of Minghella's films, there's intelligence and texture and depth and feeling, though here the emotions can seem frostbitten. Perhaps the first thing that wasn't working and needed to be fully broken to heal was the script.
– Roger Moore,
Orlando Sentinel,
1 Mar 2007
rotten:
Breaking and Entering offers a kinder, gentler version of London's strife than we're accustomed to seeing. Not all parts of the script are equally well-developed, and sometimes it seems as if we're looking at drama under glass.
– Robert Denerstein,
Denver Rocky Mountain News,
2 Mar 2007
rotten:
Despite its arty construction and clever dialogue, Breaking and Entering leaves us too chilly to care.
– Michael Booth,
Denver Post,
2 Mar 2007
rotten:
Though Binoche does very solid work, she can't sell the idea of her and Law as a couple; the chemistry isn't there. Not much else rings true in Minghella's screenplay, which is full of coincidences and speeches about race and class.
– Lou Lumenick,
New York Post,
22 Aug 2007
fresh:
The complicated interactions involving class and culture that ensue between all these characters remain fascinating even when they seem overly schematic.