I had read a good review of Breathe In, so was excited to see it come up on the NY Film Society calendar. Oh well. The acting is good, even if the plot unfolds like a story my 12-year old would make up. Cue the excitable, tween voice: …and then an exchange student comes for the summer and she’s gorgeous…and then the dad has an affair with her…and then his daughter sees them together…and then the daughter gets into a car accident… The movie is as ridiculous as it sounds. Of course, the mom/ wife in all of this has no character development except snippy put-downs of her husband (to justify the affair no doubt). If I wanted to see yet another movie where the negligent wife ends up looking even worse than the philandering husband who actually sets in motion the disastrous turn of events, I’d pick Blue Jasmine just because the acting is more fun. I love Guy Pearce, but even he couldn’t save this movie.
Veronica Mars, on the other hand, (also courtesy of the NY Film Society) was loads of fun. I hadn’t seen the TV series, but this movie made me want to see it. And isn’t that the point? Cross-selling is good for all businesses. I was a bit distracted by how much the romantic lead, played by Jason Dohring, reminded me of Dana Carvey. But if you can get past that, it’s a fun movie to watch.