JUST BREATHE
Starring: Kyle Gallner, Shawn Ashmore, Emyri Crutchfield, and William Forsythe
Director: Paul Pompa III
QUENTIN
With all due respect to the perpetually underrated Kyle Gallner, who does the best he can with what he’s given here, Just Breathe is a mess thanks to a weak script, sloppy editing, and lazily rushed character development. Frankly, nothing in the story is earned, and Nick (Gallner) is hard to root for (again, not Gallner’s fault). In fact, almost every flaw falls at the feet of Paul Pompa, who, perhaps unsurprisingly, is making both his feature screenwriting and directing debut. I mean, there is a scene where Nick asks a question, but the response given is clearly to a different question, which is just… oof.
KATIE
Just Breathe is only redeemable because of Kyle Gallner’s talents, but it is still let down by the underdeveloped characters and script. It follows ex-convict Nick, played by Gallner, who tries to rebuild his relationship in the face of unbelievable (literally) circumstances, which could be entertaining, if not for how thinly written his love interest, Mel (Emyri Crutchfield), is. She is naive to the point that it's laughable, unaware of even the most obvious of red flags, which, along with her flat performance, makes it very hard to invest in her character. Alongside the muddled plot, Just Breathe is disappointing.
ROBERT
Unhinged performances are what I gravitate towards most, and at this stage of his career, Kyle Gallner is one of the best. Unfortunately, Just Breathe doesn’t deliver, blandly bouncing from here to there without ever relishing in what its star can do. There are some serious misses with casting, especially with Mel (Emyri Crutchfield), who has the story hinge on her obliviousness about her landlord Chester (Shawn Ashmore), but she is beyond myopic and toneless. I didn’t think I could be bored with the talent onscreen, but director Paul Pompa proved me wrong with this misfire.
