• Consequence
  • Music
  • Film
  • TV
  • Heavy
Menu Consequence
Menu Shop Search Newsletter
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Live
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Contest
Advertisement
  • Film
  • Film Reviews

Breaking Turns Real-Life Tragedy Into Mawkish Melodrama: Review

Stellar turns from John Boyega and Michael K. Williams can't save a shallow recreation of a man's tragic last day

892 Review John Boyega
C

Directed by

  • Abi Damaris Corbin

Cast

  • John Boyega, Michael K. Williams, Nicole Beharie, Connie Britton, Jeffrey Donovan
Clint Worthington Follow
August 26, 2022 | 11:30am ET

    This review was part of our coverage of the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, where the film premiered under the title 892. It has been updated for its theatrical release.


    The Pitch: On July 17, 2017, former Marine lance corporal Brian Brown-Easley (John Boyega) walked into a Wells Fargo bank branch in the Atlanta suburbs, with a grey sweatshirt and backpack, and handed the teller a simple note with four words: I have a bomb. Soon, he’s taken hostages, with police negotiators and a confused media scrambling to defuse the situation. His demands? A measly $892 in disability funds denied to him by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

    Those are the circumstances reconstructed in Abi Damaris Corbin’s Breaking, a well-intentioned and occasionally striking thriller that charts the heartbreaking moments of a desperate man’s last gasps at visibility and relevance.

    Advertisement
    Related Video

    Attica! The hostage-crisis thriller is a familiar chestnut: from Dog Day Afternoon to John Q. and others, we know the usual beats. There’s the sympathetic but volatile protagonist, the uncertain rapport he builds with his hostages, the worried family members waiting with bated breath for answers. Corbin’s recreation of Brown-Easley’s harrowing day rarely strays from those formulas.

    But what grace notes do appear come courtesy of the performances, particularly Boyega’s Easley, imbuing his subject with a saint’s patience leavened by righteous indignation. In the film’s opening minutes, we see glimpses of the circumstances that will lead him to his fateful decision — talking with his young daughter Kiah (London Covington) over the phone about what she’ll name her dog as he walks to his $25-a-night hotel, hoping to get one last word in before his minutes run out. He’s a good, kind man, or wants to be, but one too many layers of dignity have been stripped from him.

    That Brian’s situation had gotten so dire that he’d take such reckless, drastic measures to secure a measly $900 for his family, speaks to the yawning chasm at the core of America’s treatment of its veterans, especially poor and Black ones. Boyega, taking over for Jonathan Majors (who had to drop out due to Marvel scheduling conflicts), fills Brian with a deeply sympathetic poise, cracking only when nudged just a bit too far by a delayed deadline here, a patronizing question there.

    Advertisement

    Breaking Movie Review John Boyega

    Breaking (Bleecker Street Media)

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
Advertisement

More on this topic

  • Connie Britton
  • Drama
  • John Boyega
  • Michael K. Williams
  • Nicole Beharie
  • Sundance Film Festival
  • Thriller

Sign up for updates

Subscribe to our email digest and get the latest breaking news in music, film, and television, tour updates, access to exclusive giveaways, and more straight to your inbox.

Advertisement

Popular Stories

Latest Stories

A-
werewolf by night review marvel disney plus special presentation halloween special

Werewolf by Night Is a Marvelous Monster Mash: Review

October 6, 2022

B
Hellraiser Review Jamie Clayton Hulu

Hellraiser Review: A True Reboot That's Pretty Darned Good

October 5, 2022

C+
david o russell amsterdam film first look release date

Not Even An All-Star Cast Can Save David O. Russell's Amsterdam: Review

October 4, 2022

B+
White Noise Review

NYFF Review: Noah Baumbach Delightfully Skewers Our Fear of Death in White Noise

October 3, 2022

B+
Till Review Danielle Deadwyler

Till Digs Into a Deeply Shameful, Deeply American Tragedy: Review

October 1, 2022

B-
Master Gardener Review Paul Schrader

Paul Schrader's Master Gardener Treads Very Familiar Soil: Review

October 1, 2022

A-
Decision to Leave Review

Chan-wook Park's Decision to Leave Is a Sizzling Romantic Thriller: Review

September 30, 2022

D+
Greatest Beer Run Ever Review

The Greatest Beer Run Ever Is a Pretty Likeable Movie, and That's a Huge Problem: Review

September 30, 2022

Advertisement

News

  • Music
  • New Music
  • Album Streams
  • Upcoming Releases
  • Tours
  • Film
  • TV
  • Pop Culture

Reviews

  • Music Reviews
  • Film Reviews
  • TV Reviews
  • Concert Reviews
  • Festival Reviews

Features

  • Editorials
  • Interviews
  • Cover Stories
  • Lists
  • Guides
  • CoSign
  • Song of the Week

Live

  • Tickets
  • Festival News
  • Tour Dates
  • Photo Galleries
  • Music Instruments & Gear

Heavy

  • News
  • Interviews
  • Concerts

More

  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Wellness
  • Giveaways

Other sites

  • Heavy Consequence
  • Consequence Media
  • Modern Drummer
  • About
  • Privacy policy
  • Advertising
  • Work For Us
  • Terms
  • Contact
  • Copyright
  • Do Not Sell My Personal Information

Download our app

  • Get it on the App Store
  • Get it on Google Play
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitch
  • Tiktok
Consequence
Current story

Breaking Turns Real-Life Tragedy Into Mawkish Melodrama: Review

Menu Shop Search Newsletter
Consequence
News
  • News
  • Music
  • New Music
  • Album Streams
  • Upcoming Releases
  • Tours
  • Film
  • TV
  • Pop Culture
Reviews
  • Music Reviews
  • Film Reviews
  • TV Reviews
  • Concert Reviews
  • Festival Reviews
Features
  • All Features
  • Editorials
  • Interviews
  • Cover Stories
  • Lists
  • Guides
  • CoSign
  • Song of the Week
Live
  • Tickets
  • Festival News
  • Tour Dates
  • Photo Galleries
  • Music Instruments & Gear
Podcasts
  • The Opus
  • Kyle Meredith With...
  • Stanning BTS
  • The Story Behind the Song
  • The What
  • Going There with Dr. Mike
  • The Rome and Duddy Show
Videos
  • Interviews
  • Two for the Road
  • First Time I Heard
  • When I Made
  • Battle of the Bandmates
  • Peer 2 Peer
  • Essays
  • Fan Theories
Heavy
  • News
  • Interviews
  • Concerts
  • Premieres
  • Culture
  • Beyond the Boys Club
  • Mining Metal
Shop
  • Shop
  • Giveaways

Follow Consequence

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitch
  • Tiktok
Close
Close
 

Loading Comments...