In addition to completing his motion capture masterpiece performance as Casesar (yes, it may have passed Gollum), Andy Serkis has also directed his first film. Serkis was Peter Jackson’s second-unit director on The Hobbit Trilogy, but Breathe will mark his feature film debut, and this film looks like Oscar bait. Claire Foy is hot off of the success of The Crown, and Andrew Garfield seems to have put his Spider-debacle behind him with Hacksaw Ridge. Read the synopsis of this inspiring story below, courtesy of IMDB, and Breathe will hit theaters on October 13, 2017.
Adventurous and charismatic, Robin Cavendish has his whole life ahead of him when he is paralyzed by polio while in Africa and given just months to live. Against all advice, Robin’s wife Diana brings him home from hospital where her devotion and witty determination inspire him to lead a long and fulfilled life. Together they refuse to be limited by expectations, dazzling others with their humor, courage and lust for life.
I’m going to see this, and knowing that Serkis chose it as his directorial debut makes me like him even more. I’ve often wondered how I would cope if I were in a situation like the one depicted in this movie. For all I know I would spend three decades figuring out how to kill myself, like Javier Bardem in The Sea Inside. I’d like to think I’m stronger, but you never know. The Sea Inside was an amazingly powerful movie, but I was not behind the man’s quest like I think I was supposed to be, I was horrified and depressed that he was obsessing over his own death for thirty years, which must have been its own special kind of prison, at least for the guy in real life. And yet again, I found myself questioning why life is so damn hard. I think I will walk out of Searkis’s movie with a different attitude. You never know for certain (did you ever see Collateral Beauty? The plot was not quite as advertised) but I think this is going to be a film that deals in life, and some of the reasons to participate.
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I think The Sea Inside is phenomenal and I honestly would probably react exactly how he did. I will not live under certain conditions, and I admire the heck out of those who overcome, but I have out clauses where if I lost X that’s it. It’s probably not the correct outlook, but it’s honestly how I’d react so I do admire tremendously those stronger than myself in that regard.
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After this and Hacksaw, Garfeild is going to have starred in two consecutive movies about guys behaving miraculously in circumstances I honestly try not to think about. I’m not a prude and there are a number of highly nightmarish films that I love, but I think that artists who strive to portray the overcoming of real life nightmares, are doing the best service, even if thier art is corny. People need examples to emulate as they navigate all the barriers and painfulness and flat-out evils of life. Even when you’re unaware of it, films like Breathe seep into your brain. In a good way, which is sadly getting rarer.
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Garfield has weathered Spider-Man much better than I thought he would, all credit to him and I’m glad it didn’t ruin his career. Marc Webb directed a great film in Gifted and I hope it doesn’t ruin his either, though he has a lot more responsibility for it and I’m gonna need another Gifted before we’re even.
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I did see Collateral Beauty and thought it was a great film. How it got like 12% on RT is beyond me, but I thought it was a really good movie. I was really glad I ignored the critics on that, but it was too late to help the film out. Opening it against Rogue One killed it anyway.
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I thought it was strange. I know, this is coming from a guy who loves Twin Peaks, but I could not get past the setup. It was a lot better than the treacly trailers promised, though.
Obviously the misleading trailers and the release date mean that the studio had no faith.
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That film had six oscar nominated or winning actors/actresses in it and I really liked it. Much better than the reviews it got, and I thought Will Smith gave a really strong performance. Lol and you’re right, you don’t get to call any set up strange lol.
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