When the Bough Breaks

Some people on here really want to be oppressed. There is nothing "racist" about this film, LMAO. The actor who plays the abusive boyfriend, Theo Rossi, is not even white, so please stop complaining. Also, "When The Bough Breaks" was clearly marketed as a Black Thriller, so if you dislike the .0001% of movies that actually aren't white male- centric, I suggest you don't watch them. Just A thought.

This a good movie, with great acting by all three of the leads. Jaz SInclair and Regina Hall are the unsung heroes of this film. I find Jaz Sinclair incredibly sexy. There was something very magnetizing and intense about her performance. Even during the character's most brutal moments, I still felt the urge to protect Anna's sweet face. (I am saying this as a straight woman, btw)

"When the Bough Breaks" is probably not a movie I'd see in theaters, but it is worth the watch nonetheless.

"When does it become a kidnapping?" John (Chestnut) and Laura (Hall) Taylor are desperate for a baby, but are unable to conceive. After years of trying they finally have found a willing surrogate and things are falling into place. Little but little things start to change and the surrogate becomes obsessed with John and everything is threatened. This is a hard movie to review. First thing I will say is that the movie is tense and dramatic. The only downside is that this is the same type of movie that has been told over and over and over. Movies like Obsessed, No Good Deed, Perfect Man….all have the same idea and while they are all good the idea is getting old and to the point of being able to know exactly what will happen. That, for me, ruins a movie more than anything. Being able to stay one step ahead in a mystery movie ruins the enjoyment. Overall, not a bad movie, but needed something to make it seem original instead of repetitive and generic. I give this a low B-.

I find films like 'When the Bough Breaks' very frustrating, because they have no chance of living up to their full potential even before the opening credits have rolled. The reason is that their hands are so severely tied behind their back in terms of what they are able to show and portray. There were times in this movie where I was actually surprised how far they went in terms of some graphic violence, yet on other occasions they seemed incredibly limited as to what they could show. The latter was certainly the more predominant case in the film. I can't help but think while I watch films like this that life is too short. Who really wants their films this toned down? Surely no children are out there watching a film about a topic like this. So are there adults out there craving PC, bland nonsense? If so, good on them for catering to those needs. But you'd better expect the rest of us to hate your films.

The other big problem with the film is just how "Been there, done that" it all feels. There isn't a single shred of originality in this film. Not even one moment that could possibly be in the least bit considered an original idea. The amateur nature with which this film was made was nothing short of shocking.

There aren't a lot of good aspects to mention, but if I had to point some out they would be a decent scare near the end that actually worked quite well, and a final 10 minutes or so that weren't actually half bad (although that could have just been because I was comparing them to the 90 minutes that had proceeded them). At the end of the day though my advice would be to not see this film. Everyone who gives their hard earned money to films like this is simply encouraging more films like this to be made. And that would be a very bad thing.

Morris Chestnut and Regina Hall star in this modern day Fatal Attraction-esque movie about a couple unable to have kids who welcome a surrogate into their home.

But of course this is Hollywood so nothing goes quite to plan and before you can say damn skippy, the soon to be mom becomes enamoured with the husband.

See that wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact she's a complete psychotic, but how do you combat such a person when they're carrying your child?

We've seen this before, near enough this entire film to be honest but here it's done competently enough.

Morris Chestnut tends to always play the same brooding character (And does here) and Regina Hall is someone I cannot take seriously anymore after her zany stint in the Scary Movie franchise! I expect her to break out into some stereotypical satirical crazy expletive filled rant and find myself almost dissapointed that she doesn't.

When the Bough Breaks lacks in originality but does have its moments, sadly not enough to raise the bar above distinctly average.

The Good:

Morris Chestnut

Has a couple of interesting moments

The Bad:

Regina Hall

Seen it all before

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

When a girl hits on you keep it a secret from your wife, what could possibly go wrong?

Moral of the story, don't have kids.

Sad to see stars like Morris Chestnut and Regina Hall sign on for such a rehashed and unrealistic plot. Who's writing this trash, anyways, people who have never talked to anyone in a real marriage? That whole, "I think she's got a 'thing' for you. giggle-hee-hee, It's okay, I think it's cute" said no woman EVER regarding some younger woman who her husband has already stated he finds physically attractive. Such bad decisions by the main characters when it was obvious things were going south made it easy to not care what happened to them. And that whole, "I can't have a baby...I'm not a real woman" quote by Hall's character...puh-leease! Can we stop with that reproductive-normative mess, like motherhood is the be-all-end-all for every woman? ~Sigh~ Chestnut and Hall deserved a much better script and a much better plot for their level of talent. They each have been in the business far too long to be starring in a storyline that is so overdone and repetitive. Nothing to see here folks...