Breaking In

R

1989

1 hr. 34 min.

Comedy

List

80%

10 Reviews

Tomatometer

42%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Reaching retirement age, professional burglar Ernie Mullins (Burt Reynolds) is ready to call it quits, but only after he pulls one last job. When he breaks into what should be his final home, he comes across the young and directionless intruder Mike (Casey Siemaszko). Identifying some latent, untapped talent in the kid, Mullins decides to put retirement on hold and take the precocious housebreaker under his wing, teaching the inexperienced criminal the tricks of the trade.

Read More

Read Less

jon c

this is another one of the late Burt Reynolds' best works from back in the day he plays a cat burglar, Ernie reaching the end of his prime, when he runs into a younger thief, Mike he decides to teach him the ropes the thing is he has a strict system in place; no personal spending when robbing the money, no personal connections to the job, no unemployment otherwise you have too much extra cash lying around as you'd expect Mike wants to learn from the best smuggling as much money from one job to the next but he gets caught up in his own misguided ways everything from buying a car to hookers to having a fancy apartment has Mike reconsider the whole profession not a lot of laughs in this caper but Reynolds has such a quirky quality to him it's a throwback to his start as an actor, he's still got it we're only as good as the job allows us to be, more people ruin their careers because of their bad habits, being a newbie to the game is one thing being a professional afterwards is another a relaxing little flick that shows us the next generation can slowly pick up from the one before even though it takes time to fully master and craft those skills

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

william s

If you only heard this premise you'd probably say no thanks and miss out on one fine movie.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Solid movie, could have used a better lead, Casey Siemaszko is just sort of strange and not very good. Otherwise pretty enjoyable.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

Full Review

kevin w

Unusual buddy film as old hand burglar/safecracker Reynolds (thankfully lowkey for a change - avoiding his usual big Cheesy Ham persona) takes in a young guy and teaches him the ropes of nighttime illegality. Its better than you might think and also good on the difficult reality of actually breaking into a place designed to keep people out, quite unlike the plethora of Hollywood films that depict breaking and entering to be as easy as pulling a plastic card out of yer back pocket.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Burt Reynolds was good, not his usual style, that's about it. The young guy who was in it more than Burt was so uninteresting, I almost turned off the film after half an hour, it's obviously meant to be his film, not Burt's, unfortunately he sucks at acting and the film fails to be entertaining because of that. Avoid at all costs.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

Full Review

Audience Member

(***): [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon14.gif[/img] Well-acted and entertaining.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/18/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Bill Forsyth

Director

Burt Reynolds

Ernie Mullins

Casey Siemaszko

Mike Lafebb

Sheila Kelley

Carrie

Lorraine Toussaint

Delphine

Albert Salmi

Johnny Scot

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

58%

32%

Cadillac Man

40%

59%

Flashback

31%

46%

Other People's Money

33%

52%

Taking Care of Business

75%

69%

White Men Can't Jump

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Breaking In has been billed as a comeback for Reynolds, but maybe it's simply a well-written, well-directed picture.

Rated: 3/4

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Rene Jordan

El Nuevo Herald (Miami)

A type of comedy about larceny so elusive, so quiet that it seems to dissolve…sleepwalking from one scene to the next. [Full review in Spanish]

Jun 22, 2022

Full Review

Peter Bowen

OutWeek

Written by John Sayles and directed by the Scottish director, Bill Forsyth, the film works at certain levels by combining Sayles' local American realism with Forsyth's rather quirky sense of humor.

May 19, 2020

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Delightfully charming low-key funny mismatched buddy crime caper pic.

Rated: A

Mar 9, 2013

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 3/5

Jul 6, 2005

Full Review

Daniel M. Kimmel

Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Rated: 4/5

Feb 8, 2004

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

Reaching retirement age, professional burglar Ernie Mullins (Burt Reynolds) is ready to call it quits, but only after he pulls one last job. When he breaks into what should be his final home, he comes across the young and directionless intruder Mike (Casey Siemaszko). Identifying some latent, untapped talent in the kid, Mullins decides to put retirement on hold and take the precocious housebreaker under his wing, teaching the inexperienced criminal the tricks of the trade.

Director: Bill Forsyth
Executive Producer: Andrew Meyer
Screenwriter: John Sayles
Production Co: The Samuel Goldwyn Company
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 19, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $1.8M
Sound Mix: Surround