Foxx "Rules" Even if Film Breaks the Heart

Wallowing in his own self pity, Quincy spends the next few months drowning in sorrow and alcohol, writing a letter to his ex about what their breakup has done to him. But this diatribe spins wildly into new, unforeseen directions, morphing into a manual entitled The Breakup Handbook. Now the jilted editor is the toast of the town, his book heating up the literary charts and turning him into the guru of relationship cessation.

In fact, his ex-boss (and now publisher) is so enamored with Quincy’s theories he contracts him to help him breakup with his harpy of a girlfriend Rita (Jennifer Esposito, “Welcome to Collinwood”), a scintillating sex-pot with designs on Phillip’s fortune. Meanwhile, the author’s cousin and partner Evan (Morris Chestnut, “The Brothers”) asks Quincy to help end things with his current girlfriend Nicky (Gabrielle Union, “Bad Boys II”), erroneously thinking she is about to do the same with him.

 Soon, mistaken identities and mixed messages crash into one another, as Rita starts seducing Evan thinking he’s Quincy while the author in turn starts falling for Nicky under the impression she’s a completely different girl named Mary. As shadows are slowly lifted, no one finds they can come clean with the truth, so lie and secrecy build upon the other into a cacophony of Shakespearean coincidences.

In a nutshell, this is the new comedy “Breakin’ All the Rules,” an erstwhile screwball farce trying to rap to its own hip hop rhythm and unfortunately coming up short. As hard as the talented cast tries to make something out of director/writer Daniel Taplitz’s (“Commandments”) disjointed screenplay, things never come together, the movie dying in sitcom contrivance and half-baked humor more suited to a skit on “Saturday Night Live” then a feature-length motion picture.

That’s really unfortunate for so much about the movie really is a breezy joy. Both Foxx and Union have a sexy, oft-kilter chemistry that suits them perfectly. There is an unavoidable attraction to the two, their romance hitting almost all the right notes even as the rest of the flick sours the stomach. Yet, no matter how insipid Taplitz’s screenplay gets, this one relationship makes sitting through it all almost worthwhile. Seldom do we see such great, well-rounded African American characters in a mainstream motion picture. Their relationship doesn’t bob and weave in the traditional romantic comedy fashion, Taplitz giving the audience credit for being able to accept an ending that doesn’t tie everything – for these two, at least – into a bright red bow.

Foxx, in particular, proves himself to be so much more than just a solid comedian. A case could be made he’s been robbed of two Oscar nominations, one for Oliver Stone’s “Any Given Sunday” and the other for Michael Mann’s “Ali.” I’d like to make the case he’s as good – maybe even better – here. Not only is the actor required to be the silly, rubber-faced comedian of his television days, he also has to be a believable romantic leading man. Not only does he nail it the actor belts it out of the park, Quincy one of the best portraits of romantic longing I’ve seen in quite some time.

If only I could say the same about the rest of the picture. “Breakin’ All the Rules” can never find a consistent tone, the supporting players all doing their best to just try and stay afloat amidst all the turbulence. Sure, there are some nice moments here and there; two park bench meetings between Quincy and Phillip are wonderful, as is a moment between Nicky and Evan that takes the breath away; but so much of the film is just plain flat. Esposito, in particular, is stuck playing a stock character so brutally uninteresting I kept wishing she would disappear, popping up unavoidably to grind all the good vibes I was feeling into the dirt with her stiletto heel.