FilmSnobReviews

Title: The Breakup Girl
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Director: Stacy Sherman
Starring: Shannon Woodward, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ray Wise
Runtime: 1 hr 30 minutes

What It Is: When Claire (Woodward) gets dumped on her birthday by her boyfriend Lewis (Nick Thune) her life spirals. On top of that her older sister Sharon (McLendon-Covey) is going insane with her recent home remodel, and her younger sister Kendra (India Menuez) tries to get her life as an actress together. It is just then when their father hits them with a bombshell, he has cancer. This really puts things into perspective for the whole family as they realize their patriarch might just be gone very soon.

What We Think: This is a film built on a shoestring budget, and crafted by a first time director. Knowing this I wasn’t left overwhelmed by any one thing in the picture itself. Ray Wise as the father is the standout as the father to three grown up daughters. There’s allusions to their youth that tug on the heart string, but otherwise none of the emotions really hit. It’s just super apathetic, it feels like there isn’t anything behind the film. It’s emotional core devoid of feeling even though it’s trying to feature it as the primary tool. Some of the actions in the film seem like filler since they’re never fully fleshed out, nor explained.

Our Grade: C-, Nothing to spectacular but my passing grade will give allow for me to suggests this to folk looking for a film that’s underseen and probably very hard to find. It’s a good enough movie and really tries to make Los Angeles (it’s setting) a character in the film. While it permeates with the essence of the city it never succeeds in it’s initial goal. And that is basically the story of the whole film half way succeeding and never fully realizing whatever it’s potential could have been.