PILOT REVIEW: Breaking In

BREAKING IN

Starring: Bret Harrison, Odette Annable, Trevor Moore, Alphonso McAuley, and Christian Slater

Written by Adam F. Goldberg and Seth Gordon, Directed by Seth Gordon

Breaking In is a new sitcom on FOX centered around computer geniuses who work for an undergound secrutiy firm and can hack into almost anything. Oz (Christian Slater) is the ringleader who recruits 27 year old college student Cameron Bright (Bret Harrison) to join the firm. It sounds like a unique premise but the pilot was just a big mess.

It's hard to tell what type of show Breaking In is trying to be but it's not working. They are trying too hard and nothing was working. The pilot felt disorganized. It was full of un-funny "flashbacks" (a style being used way too often in sitcoms lately) including a tired "pantsing" bit (and who didn't see the pantsing at the end coming?) The plotline doesn't seem very sustainable and the most intriguing part of the plot (the actual breaking in of places) was glossed over. Like too many sitcoms lately, it's way too self-aware. It played like a movie, but not a very good one.

Although it seemed like some of the actors were talented, the unfocused pilot did not help with character development. Christian Slater could have had a great character as the leader Oz, but it's not written very well and he does little to elevate it. Bret Harrison was ok but too much like any other young "new" guy in any tv show or movie. The rest of the cast was ho-hum and cliched - the sassy black guy, the girl with the weird boyfriend who's the object of the star's attention. You name it, it's been done before. Just because it's in a unique setting doesn't make it a unique show. Maybe Breaking In will improve but I probably won't be around to watch it.

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