In Theaters: May 11, 2018

There are TWO wide releases this weekend.

Breaking In

You know the type of movie where the bad guy threatens someone's family so they can get into the safe, or the bank account, or have their buddy released from prison, or whatever else?  Those movies are always led by women these days.  Just a consequence of the times.  I don't really mind it as long as it's not a remake of a movie that originally had a male lead.  It's kinda cool actually.  I like that motherhood and the strength of women is being explored.  There are two questions though.

Who is the intended audience?  I get that we want strong female leads for women to cheer for, but women don't go around dragging their boyfriends/husbands to action films.  Now, these films are cheap enough that it won't matter.  This movie will make its money back without a problem.  But looking ahead to movies like Ocean's 8, this is going to be an important question.

Where is the line between a strong and truly female character, and a woman playing out a man's role?  Frankly, if you make the strong female lead to masculine, it's not gonna connect well with audiences.  Instead of a "strong female character", perhaps we should be trying for a "strong feminine character".  If you lose too much femininity, you'll lose credibility and likability.  I don't think this particular movie will have this problem.  It actually looks like it'll be worth a watch if I found it on TV in a couple years.  Sadly, these days that's high praise from me.

Breaking In is about a woman whose children are kidnapped inside a fortress of a house with an intense security system.  In exchange for help getting into the safe (the house belonged to the lady's father) the children's captors will release them.

Breaking In is rated PG-13 for violence, menace, bloody images, sexual references, and brief strong language.

Life of the Party

Melissa McCarthy is growing on me oh so slowly.  She's funny, I admit.

Life of the Party is about a mother who gets divorced after twenty-three years of marriage, and feels like she has nowhere to go in life.  She decides to enroll in college alongside her daughter, and commits to taking in the full college experience.

It's a throwaway comedy, for sure, but it'll probably have a few good gags.

Life of the Party is rated PG-13 for sexual material, drug content and partying.

      Big Shot Critic