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the audience applauded

So much average

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

At one point, the young foreign visitor asks the dad whether he screwed up his chance at a happy fulfilling life. Given the chance, in all honesty each of the main characters would have had the same answer.I wonder if the director mightn't say the same about his ending. Wikipedia has no doubt, claiming a visible scar on the daughter's face, I saw no such sign of earlier damage, opening a wholly different interpretation of the ending. So which is it: the family deciding to soldier on despite its grave wounds, showing a brave false face of happiness to the camera or something more enigmatic?P.S. Thanks to viewing on a dvr, I was able to freeze the action on the very nanosecond thee daughter's eyebrow indeed shows a faint scar. But how about the poor folks watching in a theater?P,S.S. I wasn't able to understand large chunks of dialog. Anyone have hearing/comprehension issues?

I could watch Guy Pearce in anything but didn't finish this. Director kept us from involvement with characters by intrusive camerawork and faltering conversations.

Breathe In (2013)An exquisitely written story that belies its simple arc of a plot. On the surface this looks like a story of a married man falling for one of his students—been there done that so many times it might not survive another iteration. But here that basic hook is used to dig rather deeply into the problem of this man's life—not only why he might be tempted into a foolish affair, but why, in a weird way, it isn't (for him) foolish. The first half of this movie plays this out with finesse.The teacher is worked to a delicate balance by Guy Pearce, an ever thoughtful actor who seems perfectly cast. He's a musician who has turned to teaching music to make a living, and he clearly appreciates art and good music, always for the poetic depth it gives him. His wife (Amy Ryan) is superficial to a perfect degree—her interest is collecting cookie jars. And their daughter is a swimming star, cheerful but not a bit deep. Neither of them gives him a bit of what he really needs.So when a foreign exchange high school student—a budding pianist—arrives in their house, an obvious opportunity arises. And I don't mean for some fun or an emotional sidetrip, but for a revival of honest feelings for life. Felicity Jones plays this out with an expected mix of shy expectance and seductive depth.The second half of the movie, unfortunately, lets some of the restraint and delicacy crumble, and the more it descends (or rises, if you like excess) into unlikely extremes, the more it is just a story told for its plot twists. For me that became less interesting, especially because I so much liked the subtle writing in the beginning.The final scene brings home that the point of the movie really is about that pretense of happiness upper middle class (or upper class) families work so hard to keep. To everyone's detriment. There is a lot here to like in an ultimately compromised plot.

Not really sure if the film really should've been written the way it was. This wasn't exactly an original or unique premise, not one that we haven't seen before, but even still it should've gone the places others usually go. Something about it felt different than these sort of films usually do, even while not really attempting to break free from the mold. In terms of style, it's very well- done in every respect, although nothing calls attention to itself too much or gets caught up in its own head. That's a very good thing, in fact, certainly commendable in respect to everything else happening that does seem to take itself seriously or think too much of itself. that's how it really felt, and that's how I really took to it.