Themes: Playing the Field, Office Politics, Mistaken Identities
Main Cast: Jamie Foxx, Gabrielle Union, Morris Chestnut, Peter MacNicol, Jennifer Esposito
Release Year: 2004
Country: US
Run Time: 85 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
A man who writes the book on ending a romance runs into rough sledding while starting a new one in this comedy. Quincy (Jamie Foxx) is a magazine editor whose life takes an unexpected turn for the worse when his fiancée, Helen (Bianca Lawson), decides to give him some interesting news at their engagement party -- she's breaking up with him. A few days later, Quincy's boss, Phillip (Peter MacNicol), gives him the task of cutting manpower in his department by 15 percent; too emotionally beaten to fire anyone, Quincy responds by quitting his job. Deeply depressed, Quincy begins writing a letter to Helen to explain his feelings, but as he analyses his emotions, his notes take a different turn, and Quincy decides to write a book about how to painlessly break up with someone. The book becomes a smash best-seller, and Quincy's friends begin turning to him for advice on the subject of getting out of relations. Quincy's cousin Evan (Morris Chestnut) is eager to call things off with his girlfriend, Nicky (Gabrielle Union), and asks him to do the dirty work for him; however, Evan begins to have second thoughts when he discovers Quincy has fallen for her. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
The cookie cutter comedy Breakin' All the Rules is notable as Jamie Foxx' last theatrical release before Collateral and Ray brought him dual Oscar nominations. After a hit streak like that, it should also be his last small paycheck and last trivial genre film, for awhile at least. Breakin' All the Rules is reminiscent of Mark Brown's Two Can Play That Game (2001), but with the genders reversed -- Foxx here assumes the role of the relationship maven essayed there by Vivica A. Fox. Both films even feature Gabrielle Union as a romantic pivot point. Really, though, Daniel Taplitz' film is no less bound by the "rules" of lite African-American romantic comedy, a genre with numerous entries, yet few standouts. Breakin' All the Rules makes a game attempt for distinctiveness by including enough mistaken identities and romantic criss-crossing to make Shakespeare's head spin, but that's the only thing Shakespearean about it. More typical is its handful of scenes in which Foxx' dog gets drunk on bourbon. The actors have chemistry and the dialogue isn't half bad, but there's just not much that is memorable here. The one-on-one scenes between Foxx and Union are the film's high points, as they contain an intimacy and truth absent from the slapstick that informs the rest of the production. But Foxx does not ultimately rise very far above the material, reminding viewers that a good script and good director are what round a good actor into an award winner. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Bianca Lawson - Helen Sharp; Jill Ritchie - Amy; Heather Headley - Heather Headley; Gerald Emerick - Talk Show Host
Credit
Peter Borck - Art Director, Justine Baddeley - Casting, Kim Davis-Wagner - Casting, Isis Mussenden - Costume Designer, Todd Michael Amateau - First Assistant Director, Daniel Taplitz - Director, Robert Frazen - Editor, Paddy Cullen - Executive Producer, Kevin Halloran - Line Producer, Marcus Miller - Composer (Music Score), Peter Coquillard - Musical Direction/Supervision, Jerry Fleming - Production Designer, Justine Baddeley - Production Designer, David Hennings - Cinematographer, Lisa Tornell - Producer, Paddy Cullen - Producer, David B. Chornow - Sound/Sound Designer, Daniel Taplitz - Screenwriter, Betty Berberian - Set Decorator
Foxx is unceremoniously dumped by his fiancée, and pens a "how to" book on breaking up and becomes a best-selling author on the subject. Not wanting his male friends to suffer the same fate, he gives them advice on dumping their mates.
