Breathe In

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Matthew D A perfect film for gazing longingly into Felicity Jones’ spellbinding blue eyes. Director Drake Doremus’ indie romance drama Breathe In (2013) is phenomenal. You get this sultry affair and all these intense feelings of yearning, desire, and understanding. The expressive piano music swirls around these characters all experiencing deep anguish and guilt over this affair they are aware of and how it destroys a family. Breathe In feels very poetic and artful with shocking revelations and really earnest filmmaking. I just loved Felicity Jones and Guy Pearce in this powerful drama Breathe In. Writers Ben York Jones and Drake Doremus craft a tender romance script full of intrigue, tenderness, and passion. I know Drake Doremus had a mostly improvised script for Like Crazy starring Felicity Jones, so I am impressed he just did a 60 page outline for Felicity Jones and Guy Pearce to improvise all their dialogue. I appreciate their foreshadowing with certain characters looking at each other or characters constantly saying be careful of your driving. It’s interesting that Doremus cast Felicity as a foreign exchange student again. She gets to be the enchanting foreigner sweeping a man disillusioned with his loveless marriage, dissatisfying teaching career, and finding comfort in a gifted pianist with a shared love of music. You get every relationship dynamic between a married man going through a midlife crisis, a grown man seeking a younger girl than his wife, a teacher creeping on his young student, a jealous teenage daughter who cannot cope with how horrible men treat her, a wife worried about her husband and marriage, and a sleazy male student lying about the girls in his grade. Breathe In reminded me of other films about infidelity and attraction like Like Crazy, The Piano, The Crush, Unfaithful, Marriage Story, and The Descendants. Casting director Eyde Belasco cast amazing actors and actresses for Breathe In’s strong ensemble. Australian actor Guy Pearce is enthralling as the sorrowful piano music teacher Keith Reynolds, who longs for a job as a cellist in an orchestra. Pearce is fascinating with his sullen looks at his wife who he thinks doesn’t support him or his aspirations. His lustful glances at Felicity and guilty looks at his own daughter are engaging. He really captures the different emotions this villain is feeling. English actress Felicity Jones is precious, subtle, and captivating as the English foreign exchange student Sophie. Her piercing blue eyes convey a sincere desire for love, but also invite us into her guilt. You feel her initial loneliness and wanderlust that turns into musical interest in Pearce’s Keith, then a real lust. Jones is the most natural actress with hypnotizing eyes. I love how you can tell she’ll immediately start flirting with this married man with her certain side looks as well as the boyfriend of his daughter. While she rejects the boyfriend’s drunken advances, you can tell through Felicity’s expressive eyes she really lingers on Guy and matches his yearning. American actress Amy Ryan is fascinating too as Guy’s wife Megan Reynolds. You can tell she is suspicious and forlorn until Amy’s character really understands the depths of her husband’s betrayal. She’s very nuanced in her gestures. Canadian actress Mackenzie Davis is excellent as the hurt teenage daughter Lauren Reynolds. She starts out as happy and friendly, then turns to despair and hopelessness as she realizes what is happening around her. Breathe In is a devastating supporting actress role for Mackenzie Davis. American actress and comedian Alexandra Wentworth is funny as the family friend Wendy Sebeck. Kyle MacLachlan is hilarious as her sleazy husband Peter Sebeck, who gazes at Felicity and comments on her body to Guy Pearce. It’s a very funny quick cameo. New York actor and Alexandra Daddario’s brother Matthew Daddario is really creepy as the sleazy high schooler Aaron, who previously slept with Lauren. Him lying about sleeping with a girl to his friends is so casually cruel. Editor Jonathan Alberts’ gently dreamy cutting style lets each scene flow with a natural poetic style. Every scene in Breathe In allows the audience into the intimate moments. He emphasizes the particular gaze of someone’s eyes locking with another with yearning. Cinematographer John Guleserian shoots the most mesmerizing close up shots of Felicity Jones’ pretty eyes. Production designer Katie Byron’s cozy home sets are quite nice and realistic. Composer Dustin O'Halloran’s serene film score sounds so romantic. His gentle piano playing delivers a tranquil atmosphere for his lovely film score. All the real classical pieces performed by the orchestra are beautiful as well of course. Sound designer Jesse Pomeroy, Andy Hay, and Paul Stanley capture every soft note and spoken word with clarity and little ambient noises. Costume designer Emma Potter gives Felicity Jones the cutest dresses, blouses, jeans, sneakers, and swimsuits. In all, Felicity Jones and Guy Pearce are simply marvelous for all 98 minutes. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/04/25 Full Review Brian M I utterly loved this film. I thought the quietness of the character played by Felicity Jones came with really charged intensity. It was very easy to see how the father, Keith (played by Guy Pearce), would have fallen for the hypnotic alure of Ms Jones' character. Oh, and the music. Wonderful. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/21/25 Full Review Abigail M i was constantly annoyed by that one girl. shes like the main character but i dont even remember her name. it was a very odd movie with a confusing ending. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 07/01/23 Full Review Emilliano S Like a forgetful mellow drama: breathe in, breathe out. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/03/23 Full Review Audience Member Can a 18 something teen of half the age of a talented musician disrupt the happy family life, the reply shall be not usually. The director with excellent team has convincingly dramatized the story of mid-life crisis when a man in his forties finds himself attracted to a teen that lives with his family as a foreign exchange student. There is neither an ideal nor any bad character in the family drama ; for a sensitive human being it shall not be easily forgotten. I recommend the movie , it is one of the 20 best films ever watched by me during the 21st century; characters and situations may be seen by the audience with open eyes as fully lived in instead of merely portrayed. It is not perfect like life (with a sigh...) Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/12/23 Full Review Audience Member Personally think this is Drake Doremus' best film (have watched pretty much all of them in lockdown). I like the realism of this, without wanting to spoil anything by why it's realistic, also I feel like Guy Pearce is a seriously underrated actor, he's always amazing in anything I have seen with him and I feel like he goes under the radar. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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