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<\/a><\/p>\nIn their youth, brothers Jimmy and Darren Price were one of the best junior doubles teams in the United States with the potential to become the best in the world.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the always edgy and impatient Jimmy didn\u2019t want to continue on the tried and true play he and Darren had developed.\u00a0 No, Jimmy is so hungry for titles and championships that he dumps Darren and partners up with someone else.\u00a0 Worst part is that not only did the partnership of Jimmy and Darren fall apart, so did their relationship as brothers.<\/p>\n
Now decades later, Jimmy finds himself as the bad boy of the tennis circuit and in need of a partner if he is going to have one final fling at the as yet unattained championship glory.\u00a0 Having been dumped by every doubles player on the tennis circuit, Jimmy has no alternative but to grovel and beg Darren to return to play with him in a bid to qualify for the US Open.\u00a0 Now working as a substitute teacher, but for the occasional pick-up game, Darren has long moved on from tennis, but deep down he still longs for the closeness he once had with his brother.<\/p>\n
Ultimately agreeing to partner up with Jimmy, Darren has his work cut out for him when it comes not only training and getting Jimmy back into fighting shape (seems Jimmy has spent more time with wine and women of late than on the tennis court), but getting their once perfect rhythm back in sync, a rhythm that only comes with the closeness of brothers, could be beginning of the end.<\/p>\n With some well placed parental advice from their veterinarian father Jack, and unbridled enthusiasm and encouragement from the always fashionable and color coordinated Barry, a young student of Darren\u2019s who has attached himself to the brothers as his \u201cmentors\u201d for the summer, every lob, let, net, fault, ace, point, game and match plays out on multiple levels before our eyes.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s face it ladies.\u00a0 Jeremy Sisto is hotter than hot as Jimmy; clearly taping into the John McEnroe bad boy of tennis persons while adding his own level of sweaty sex appeal and humor.\u00a0 You love Jimmy and you love to hate him all at the same time.\u00a0 BUT, there is never a moment you don\u2019t believe who Jimmy is and the sibling relationship with David Walton\u2019s Darren.\u00a0 Walton is really an ace for \u201cBreak Point\u201d given that in addition to a skilled actor, he is an amateur tennis player and boasts a USTA rating of 5 out of 7.\u00a0 Walton brings the welcome and necessary \u201cnice\u201d factor to the sibling rivalry.<\/p>\n JK Simmons is sage perfection as Jack.\u00a0 Kind, matter-of-fact and inherently parentally funny, Simmons is a delight with rock solid parental grounding that rings true and touches the heart.\u00a0 Hilarious”divine” moments from the good Adam Devine as fellow player Nick, while as Gary (rival to the affections of Darren\u2019s wanna be girlfriend) Vince Ventresca still plays beautifully as the arrogant-ass type boyfriend that we cherish and remember from \u201cRomy & Michelle\u2019s High School Reunion\u201d.<\/p>\n According to director Jay Karas, \u201cTennis was the way in.\u00a0 It\u2019s the two brothers deciding to make a run in doubles tennis and they realize at a certain point that in order to be in sync as players, they have to be in sync as brothers and as human beings. . . At its core, it\u2019s a story about brothers repairing relationships.\u00a0 You can take away the tennis and drop it into any scenario.\u00a0 The doubles tennis thing just happens to work really well because they have to work together and they have to be able to communicate in a really interesting, non-verbal, physical way.\u201d\u00a0 Taking this beyond a \u201ctennis movie\u201d or \u201csports movie\u201d, is not only the idea of brothers reconnecting, but just people connecting.\u00a0 As Jeremy Sisto sees it, \u201cThere\u2019s not anyone, I don\u2019t think, in this world that doesn\u2019t have at least person that they\u2019ve had some issues with.\u00a0 Those issues seem bigger than they actually are.\u00a0 And when they get into the room with that person, those issues reveal themselves to be most concocted in the mind. . . A lot of that is very human and relatable.\u00a0 Then on top of that you have a kid like Joshua Rush and a character [like Barry] that is so unique – and everyone can relate to being an outsider as a kid, even if you were the most popular kid in the school there was still an element of growing up.\u201d\u00a0 With story and script by Jeremy Sisto and co-writer Gene Hong, the story is well defined and the characters and the sibling relationship between Jimmy and Darren beyond believable.\u00a0\u00a0 Stand out is the character development and the emotional growth of each, resonating on every level.<\/p>\n Credit to Sisto and Hong for the depth of character in \u201cBreak Point\u201d, most notably with Jimmy and Barry, and the development of their relationship.\u00a0 As described by Sisto himself, \u201cJimmy is a kid.\u00a0 He\u2019s a kid and he\u2019s a kid who needs to grow up because we all need to grow up.\u00a0 I think down deep he\u2019s really worried that he can\u2019t actually do that; that he won\u2019t be able to grow up.\u00a0 He knows he can operate within the world that he lives in now, but he just doesn\u2019t know if he can do that if he grows up.\u00a0 I think finding Barry and finding somebody to mentor and to coach and obviously finding a \u2018brother\u2019 is allowing him to get to the next stage of life.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Hand in hand with Jimmy is Barry who, like Jimmy, marches to the beat of his own drummer.\u00a0\u00a0 The one difference is how each deals with being \u201cthe outsider\u201d and that becomes the connective tissue for growth.\u00a0 Sisto is quick to describe the best of Barry, a fish out of water with no friends, but that\u2019s okay because \u201cTo watch this character, it\u2019s not that he doesn\u2019t care.\u00a0 He knows he\u2019s different.\u00a0 He leans into the curve.\u00a0 His personality is so much bigger than any of the emotions that would make someone feel badly about being an outsider.\u00a0 I think that is a super inspiring quality to watch.\u00a0 We see kids who are outsiders and you go, \u2018Oh, I feel so bad for them\u2019.\u00a0 You feel like that at times here, but mainly you\u2019re like, \u2018Oh, I feel bad for…..Oh, wait!\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t care and he\u2019s actually cool with who he is.\u201d\u00a0 And now that he has a couple of male figures, a couple of strong figures in his life, he\u2019s even better.<\/p>\n And the dialogue throughout is beyond sharp and witty, especially that of Sisto\u2019s Jimmy and Joshua Rush\u2019s Barry.<\/p>\n But what brings those characters and their journey to life are the film\u2019s visuals which allow the story to unfold without distraction.\u00a0 Employing Sidney Lumet\u2019s philosophy of \u201cdesigning and creating visual metaphor for wherever you are in the film\u201d, Karas and cinematographer Jim Frohna developed a specific map for lighting and lensing.\u00a0 \u201cWhen we first meet Jeremy Sisto\u2019s character Jimmy Price, he\u2019s all over the place.\u00a0 He\u2019s a loose cannon.\u00a0 He\u2019s a mess.\u00a0 So the camera work should be handheld and a little bit loose to match Jimmy.\u00a0 When we first meet Darren, he\u2019s sort of introverted and inward and put upon and very stoic and static and staid and the shots should match that. . . It was figuring out where we are with their relationship and designing the camera work around that.\u00a0 The added layer of aesthetic complication was figuring out how to shoot the tennis stuff and tracking that as well.\u00a0 Each tennis match had some key story points to follow and it also had to track in terms of the visual metaphor of where they were in their relationship and not just about the game.\u00a0 The game was the metaphor for how the brothers were doing in repairing their relationship.\u201d\u00a0 The result is engaging and entertaining and filled with poignancy and laughter. \u201cBreak Point\u201d is first and foremost a story of people and connection and reconciliation with sports a mere backdrop.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>
\nBut it’s Joshua Rush as Barry who steals the entire film, and your heart, and never more so than in third act going toe-to-toe with Sisto.\u00a0 On screen for more than 50% of the film, much of the story and the humor falls on Rush\u2019s capable shoulders and he never drops the ball.\u00a0 Adding another layer to the story is Barry\u2019s journey which runs parallel to that of Jimmy and Darren, intersecting and being influenced on one another along the way.\u00a0 Watching Rush\u2019s Barry navigate the treacherous waters of finding himself as Jimmy and Darren find themselves, is a joy.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n