Reggie “The Reel Critic” Reviews Bank Robbery Drama ‘Breaking’

Written by Vocalo Radio on August 26, 2022

“’Breaking‘ is compassionate, it’s insightful and it humanizes our veterans, who are many times invisible.”
– Reggie “The Reel Critic” Ponder

This week on “The Reel Critic,” Reggie Ponder breaks down bank robbery drama Breaking — based on the real-life story of Marine Corps veteran Brian Brown-Easley.

John Boyega stars in Breaking with his portrayal of Marine Corps veteran Brian Brown-Easley, who is driven to rob a bank due to financial troubles. The real-life Brown-Easley took hostages in 2017 at a suburban Atlanta Wells Fargo branch when his disability payment never showed up — and his calls to the Veterans’ Crisis Line and visit to the Atlanta VA’s Regional Benefits Office were to no avail.

According to a 2018 Task & Purpose article (film spoiler warning, the title tells you the story’s ending) by Aaron Gell, which the film was based on, “[Brown-Easley] said he had no intention of robbing the bank, and though an employee had fled leaving piles of cash just sitting out at their work station, he showed no interest in it. His focus was exclusively on his own money — that monthly disability payment from the VA.”

Breaking also stars Michael K. Williams, Nicole Beharie and Selenis Leyva. Critics have called Breaking “a modern-day Dog Day Afternoon,” and it was the recipient of the special jury award for ensemble cast at Sundance Film Festival 2022, where it premiered under its original title 892.

Breaking is in theaters now.