Break Even

Is this supposed to be a bad comedy? How do people get money to make 2 bit garbage like this? Plot is uber ridiculous, characters are paper thin. Don't waste your time ...

Right, well "Break Even" from writer CJ Walley and director Shane Stanley is not a movie that will redefine cinema history. As a matter of fact, chances are that the movie will fade into oblivion just as quietly and unnoticed as it managed to pop up in 2020.

Sure, the movie was watchable, although it was hardly an impressive movie in terms of entertainment and story. However, the movie was just suffering terribly from having a very generic and mundane storyline that was just almost fully devoid of innovation. So it felt like director Shane Stanley was just running the movie on auto-pilot.

And the lack of a proper storyline with a great arch and hooks to sink in the audience, the movie just trotted onwards in a very mediocre and pointless pace. I swear, it was hard to keep 100% focus on the movie, as so little of any interest actually happened throughout the course of the movie.

The acting in "Break Even" was adequate, though the actors and actresses were virtually struggling with an empty storyline and flaccid characters that essentially could have all been one and the same.

I am sure that there is an audience out there for a movie such as "Break Even", I was however not really in the target audience. So "Break Even" was a swing and a miss from director Shane Stanley.

My rating of "Break Even" lands on a generous three out of ten stars. I was not entertained by what transpired on the screen, and this is hardly a movie that I will recommend that you spend your money, time or effort on. Nor is it a movie that I will be return to watch a second time.

This is a low budget affair and it shows. This plot has been seen before - nice people find bad people's money and the bad people come after them.

The scenes are pretty disjointed and don't fit together very well. There are plot holes at seemingly every turn.

Jaq (Tasya Teles) is the only actor who does a good job with their role. But the script she has to work with is horrible. Her fellow crew members are. Without giving away nything her relationship with the bad guys and other felons is confusing and simply not believable.

Agent Crowe (Joanna Pacula) is a particularly bad actress. As the main nemesis in the movie her bad acting pulls it all down. In her defense, she and most of the other roles are poorly defined.

Most hilarious is what is basically a cameo from Steve Gutenburg who has put on a few pounds. He's the only actor in the movie you probably have heard of before. He is given top billing (?). His acting is pretty bad as he tries to restore the zaniness of his Police Academy days. I actually liked those. Unfortunately for Steve, he could never move beyond that to any other big roles.

We need someone to root for. We can root for good guys, like heroes in action movies. We can root for bad guys, like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. But we need to root for someone. We need someone we care about.

This movie has NO one we care about. Four argumentative repulsive dimwits find $50 million. They decide to steal it. Watching the four of them die in a hail of gunfire is the best we can hope for.

They are pursued by corrupt DEA agents, led by an argumentative repulsive dimwit. She wants to steal the $50 million for herself. Watching her and her corrupt henchmen die in a hail of gunfire is the best we can hope for.

The $50 million belongs to a drug dealer. Watching him and his goons die in a hail of gunfire is the best we can hope for.

And that's the film. We're watching in the hopes everyone gets what they deserve. Only there is no one trying to give it to them. There is no protagonist.

Three stars for the temerity to release a movie where Steve Gutenberg is the best actor in the cast. Minus one star for a screenwriter who doesn't know the basics of the craft.

Two stars.

Is brutally hot that even if you hate this movie... Just her in that white dress makes it all worthwhile.

Movie is watchable and OK fun. Certainly must have fun to make. Anyone who gave this a 10 is of very low standards or worked on the crew.