Brake: A “Man in a Box” Movie, Literally

It’s dark, and the only light comes from a red digital clock that is counting down from four minutes. This is where Secret Service agent Jeremy Reins (Stephen Dorff) finds himself as he wakes up. Now, it actually takes a few minutes for this movie to explain to us that Jeremy is Secret Service, but all of the trailers for this film make it pretty clear from the get go, so we might as well just run with the crappy spoilers that have already been provided for us. The trailer has also let us know that later on in the movie there will be bees, threats against poor Jeremy’s girl, possible attacks targeting the president of the United States, and angry intercom conversations between Jeremy and some unknown terrorists. So I would just like to take a moment to sarcastically thank the production company for spoiling most of the movie for all of us. Seriously, you guys. I mean, it’s billed as a crime thriller. Wouldn’t it have been a better idea to pull a “Usual Suspects” and drive us insane with teaser trailers? I would have preferred that. Because as it stands now, watching 90 minutes of plot that has already been explained was far from a thrilling experience.

And on top of all of that, this film is a “man in a box” movie. There isn’t that much latitude when it comes to “men in boxes” films. The narrative arcs of this sub-genre are extremely limited enough as it is. So to explain away what little surprises there might be in one of these films is a pretty lame move.

As far as “men in box” movies go, just off the top of my head, there was Buried with Ryan Reynolds, The Vanishing with Keifer Sutherland, The Serpent and the Rainbow with Bill Pullman, and then there was Boxing Helena—which shook things up by putting a woman in the box. All of these films dealt with the internal struggle one goes through in feeling trapped. The box acts as a very “in your face” metaphor for death. The audience is forced to confront the temporality of life and the weakness of the human form. It’s funny, now that I think about it, I am damn near positive I wouldn’t have had a problem with these other films dropping spoilers in their trailers. I think the reason for that is because each of them was a vicarious look into what would happen to a person in the most extreme circumstances. It was an examination of the self. This is not what Brake was about. I mean, it sort of was, but it seemed more like the filmmakers were trying to make a Tom Clancy movie in the dark. And I have to tell you, you really don’t feel for the main character because he is completely ineffectual. He’s literally trapped in a box. At some point in the film he gets a hold of a cell phone and makes an attempt to save the day by making phone calls to important people. This is the most “in-charge” this character is going to get. But then he calls his girlfriend first, despite the fact that he is LOCKED IN A FREAKING BOX AND THE PHONE IS ABOUT TO DIE. I found myself marveling at the heights of stupidity. It takes him four phone calls to dial 9-1-1.

I don’t want to blame Stephen Dorff for this. I liked him as the sardonic thief in The Immortals, and I truly believe that he (with the right director) can pull some decent acting off. And he really wasn’t that bad considering that he was in a box for the whole damn movie. I blame the script. Yes, I know, the trailer sort of ruined my objectivity on the matter, but when you put too many twists and turns into a plot, and you ignore logic along the way, the audience is going to stop caring and the big twist at the end is not going to matter. Also, it is really difficult to build other characters when the entire film is a giant close up of the protagonist.

So just avoid this thing. If you want to see the psychological machinations of terror that envelope someone who is trapped, see Buried, or The Vanishing or Coma. Hell, even Cube is a better film. And if you want to see a thriller that twists you around with crazy weird surprises all over the place, watch The Game or The Usual Suspects. But definitely don’t see Brake, because the only audience this film seems to be good for is 13 year old boys who enjoy watching inarticulate men get angry in confined spaces.