Breathe’s dynamic duo inspire Breathe (M)
118 mins ★★★★
The tale of a man who becomes paralysed suddenly and regains the will to live through the determination of his wife, Breathe could look like a red rag to a cynical viewer (especially with its saccharine tagline: ‘‘With her love, he lived.’’ Yuck). But on the strength of its two main stars and adept direction by adopted-Kiwi Andy Serkis (Gollum in Lord of the Rings), Breathe turns out to be charming and frequently delightful.
In subject, setting and class it feels like a throwback to Merchant Ivory days and has a terrific cast – The Crown’s Claire Foy, Diana Rigg and Downton’s Hugh Bonneville. To cap this off, we get two Tom Hollanders. The best thing in The Night Manager plays twins and there is a special joy in watching Hollander bitch at himself.
Andrew Garfield (superb in The Social Network and Hacksaw Ridge) plays real-life disability advocate Robin Cavendish, married scarcely a year when he is struck down by polio and rendered immobile and increasingly pessimistic. With an infant son and a catastrophically cut-short adventurous spirit, Cavendish is told he has months to live and is confined to a bed in an institution. His loyal wife (Foy) isn’t having any of it, however, and together they try to construct a way for the once sport-obsessed fellow to regain a reason to live.
While compelling in its narrative and charmingly British it’s tempting to accuse the film of being merely Oscar bait. But while Garfield is solid in his performance, unusually for a film with such a flagrantly unsubtle premise, it is Foy and Garfield’s relationship that touches and inspires. Both are utterly convincing in their roles. Remarkably, neither morbid nor depressing, Breathe brings a breath of fresh air to a stale genre. – Sarah Watt