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Parents' Guide to

Breakin All the Rules

By Nell Minow, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

Not much worth seeing in this mess of a movie.

Movie PG-13 2004 90 minutes
Breakin All the Rules Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 12+

Based on 1 parent review

dranaqueen
dranaqueen Parent of baby-year-old
March 30, 2011
age 12+

more for a kid 12 or 13 to watch!

Well if u have young childeren then i don't think this is such an apporite movie for them to see i say the age 12 is a good time to let them see it its a good movie now don't get me wrong its funnny to and has Jamie Foxx just not a movie for the younger ones more of a movie for someone 12 or 13 thats a good time for them to see Breaking All The Rules defintley!
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

In BREAKIN ALL THE RULES, Jamie Foxx plays Quincy, a magazine editor who is about to propose to his girlfriend when she dumps him. So he writes a book about how to break up with a girlfriend, based on research he had to do for his boss about employee termination, and it becomes a best-seller. Quincy's cousin Evan (Morris Chestnut) thinks his girlfriend Nicky (Gabrielle Union) is about to break up with him, so he sends Quincy to break up with her first. Not knowing who she is, Quincy begins to fall for her. Meanwhile, Rita (Jennifer Esposito), the gold-digging girlfriend of the big boss at the magazine, mistakes Evan for Quincy, and jumps into bed with him to prevent him from helping the boss break up with her.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (1 ):
Kids say: Not yet rated

Bright stars can't save this over-plotted and under-directed romantic comedy. The few good ideas and funny moments are outweighed by too many "none of this would have happened if people had been logical and honest" complications and too much unnecessarily ugly attempted humor. Once Quincy's book hits it big, the movie lurches into a leaden daisy-chain of mistaken identity mix-ups that hold the interest of the characters on screen much longer than they do the audience's in watching it or mine in explaining it.

Fox, Chestnut, Union, and Esposito are all exceptionally talented, attractive, and fun to watch. They give the material far more than it deserves. But director Daniel Taplitz is too attached to his own screenplay and gives more time to each of the increasingly tedious developments than they require, breaking some important rules himself -- the ones about how to make a movie worth watching.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about Quincy's comment that "Falling in love is blissful insantity, but breaking up is a rational act," and "love doesn't care about honesty; it cares about itself," and his cousin's comment that "on a date, it's all dishonest." What is the best way to break up with someone?

Movie Details

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