DON'T BREATHE (2016)

Fede Alvarez directed this film from an original screenplay that he co-wrote with Rodo Sayagues that should never have been made, it’s that bad. Ridiculous in its execution, it centers its story around three young antagonist-type hoodlums that decide to rob a blind veteran (who’s also a war hero) after he’s received a large settlement after his only child was killed by a motorist on the street. This is a film with so many plot holes you could actually fly the Hindenburg through them. Why would these thieves even think that this man would keep hundreds of thousands of dollars in his house to begin with (even though it ends up he does) when the vast majority of folks would keep the funds in some sort of interest bearing account. Why is this blind man who has “heightened senses” not able to hear these clumsy buffoons break into his house in the first place, let alone pass right next to them without being able to smell the filthy lot (literally) or hear their panting breath (though he does when it’s convenient for the script to move forward)? How was he able to avoid passing out when they filled his room with some sort of poison (anesthetic) gas and how didn’t he realize they were in the room to start with, since they were making an inordinate amount of noise? Well I guess he did and the joke was on them for he has no problem in trying to kill these most unwelcome of intruders. How a script this inept got made to begin with surprises me and the fact that it is making money just shows how indiscriminate today’s young movie goers have become. The exteriors of this film were shot in the slums of Detroit, Michigan, while all the interiors were shot in Hungary. The director who introduced the film in an intro does not speak English very well which may help to explain why most of this picture really makes no sense, unless of course you’re mentally retarded. What a fine actor like Stephen Lang is doing in a mess like this is beyond me. All I can say is that they must have offered him a rather large payday for him to forgo a pass. And as far as the rest of the cast (Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette and Daniel Zovatto) is concerned, they’re all young enough that hopefully with time this credit will be long forgotten.