Breakin' All the Rules (2004)

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