Breaking Dawn

breaking_dawnrating-3.0A psychological thriller in the most literal sense, Breaking Dawn involves a medical student working with a young delusional man who seems to drag her into his madness... Seems.

Dawn is fairly obvious in its course, when it's not lost in a sea of nonsensical plot points, and, by the time it reaches its conclusion, everyone should already know what's going on.

That aside, this movie is built around its acting and casting. The movie's lead, Kelly Overton, is like a demi-Julia Stiles, though that may be selling her acting prowess short, as Stiles is more beauty than substance, despite her work with David Mamet. Though being dragged through the muck of the overwrought and often pointless plot does nothing for the lovely Overton, as much of the emotion and nuance is lost in the audience's annoyance that the actions don't make a whole lot of sense, though in the framework of the story (which you'll obviously understand by the end... I think) it really doesn't matter. Bolstering her is James Haven, best known for being Angelina Jolie's brother, in a very solid performance, giving the movie a real feeling of momentum when the flimsy script would drag the whole affair down.

Joe Morton (from Sci-Fi's "Eureka") is also onboard as Overton's professor, providing a real foil for several excellent scenes where the actors manage to surpass the nonsensical script and show their chops, despite the stupidity of some of the dialogue trickling out. Morton shows us where the bar is set and heads up the rest of the supporting cast, all fairly good actors.

Really, this is an actor's movie. The performances are good and I can see why this would garner mention from film festivals, though those accolades aren't necessarily transferable to the script, though the young writer/director does show a certain promise in the low budget techniques used to give the movie atmosphere and make the descent into madness somewhat more compelling and thrilling.

So, far from an excellent film, this movie does deliver enough to warrant watching for those interested in a good performance, but those looking for an interesting plot or, god forbid, a horror movie should likely stay far away.

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