Opening the Edinburgh Film Festival this year is Drake Doremus’ Breathe In; a character driven story of frustrated failed musician turned music teacher Keith (Guy Pearce) who finds inspiration and temptation in the shape of British exchange student Sophie (Felicity Jones). It’s a handsomely shot but unflashy and slow-burning drama that gives you plenty of time to get to know the characters and, depending on your tolerance for the restrained pace, could be described as understated or underwhelming. I have to admit that for me it was the latter.
Doremus’ previous film was the similarly toned and paced Like Crazy, which also starred Jones. It’s clear now that, with both his writing and direction, he likes to take things slow and build his films around the actor’s performances and let his stories unfold organically. He’s obviously been greatly inspired by Terence Malick but unfortunately his style has more in common with Malick’s recent ponderous work than his earlier, poignant classics. With Breathe In this languid pace serves the actors well and Pearce and Jones both create completely believable characters, as do Amy Ryan and Mackenzie Davis as Keith’s wife and daughter.
But somehow, despite believing in the characters and the situation, it’s hard to become invested in the story. The pace and the dialogue, which often feels deliberately written and performed in a self-consciously conversational style, keeps the viewer well this viewer anyway detached from what’s happening. That clearly wasn’t the case with many other viewers and to be honest it may have more to do with my reactions to the characters. I bought Keith and Sophie as real people but I didn’t much like them. Despite Pearce’s winning performance there’s no escaping the fact that Keith is a middle-aged man making eyes at his teenage student, a fact I found hard to get passed. And Sophie is meant to be wise beyond her years but tended to come across instead as irritatingly smug.
If you feel similarly cold about the central characters then the bulk of the film’s running time will drag by, but there’s always the uneasy sense that it’s building to an inevitably emotional climax. Then, in the third act when you’re waiting for the payoff to all this build-up, Doremus really drops the ball. The story comes to a head in a heavy-handed and melodramatic fashion with an event that seems to exist purely for narrative convenience. It’s such a strange turn for a film that seemed intent on honest realism and is followed by a denouement where everything is wrapped up in a spectacularly unsatisfactory fashion. Ultimately, Breathe In is a frustrating watch; well made with incredibly good performances but somehow hard to care about.
Overall Verdict: A bit of a disappointment kicks off the EIFF this year, Breathe In is a beautifully shot and well made film built around meticulous performances but it manages to keep the audience at arm’s length and prevent them becoming invested in what’s happening.
Reviewer: Adam Pidgeon