Brake (film)
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''Brake'' is a 2012 American
action thriller film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...
directed by Gabe Torres, written by Timothy Mannion, and starring
Stephen Dorff Stephen Hartley Dorff Jr. (born July 29, 1973) is an American actor. He is known for portraying Roland West in the third season of HBO's crime drama anthology series ''True Detective'', PK in '' The Power of One'', Stuart Sutcliffe in ''Backbe ...
. It follows a
U.S. Secret Service The United States Secret Service (USSS or Secret Service) is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security charged with conducting criminal investigations and protecting U.S. political leaders, their families, and ...
special agent who is held captive in the trunk of a car by terrorists aiming to extract information about the U.S. president's secret bunker. It was released on 23 March 2012.


Plot

Jeremy Reins, a
U.S. Secret Service The United States Secret Service (USSS or Secret Service) is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security charged with conducting criminal investigations and protecting U.S. political leaders, their families, and ...
special agent assigned to the presidential detail, is drugged, kidnapped and held captive within a glass box in the cramped, dark trunk of a car. At first Jeremy thinks it is a prank from people he owes money for gambling debts, but he quickly learns that the truth is far more sinister. Jeremy begins to endure mental and physical torture as terrorists attempt to extract information. The information needed is the location of the secret bunkers, dubbed "Roulette", that are
used Used may refer to: Common meanings *Used good, goods of any type that have been used before or pre-owned *Used to, English auxiliary verb Places *Used, Huesca, a village in Huesca, Aragon, Spain *Used, Zaragoza, a town in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain ...
by the
president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
and
vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
during a national emergency. Jeremy's only contact is Henry, another hostage that is also locked in a trunk of a car; both hostages have timers in the trunk with them that counts down. The terrorists have left old radios in the trunk to allow them to communicate with their hostages as well as allowing Jeremy and Henry to talk to one another. Through long conversations, Jeremy learns that the cars are actually bombs, and that they are currently in Maryland traveling towards Washington D.C. The car is almost pulled over by police and a high speed chase ensues but Jeremy is unable to be rescued, although the box is shot, leaving a hole in the glass. Jeremy is tortured every time the counter hits zero, at one point bees are released into his tank, since he is allergic to bee stings. However, the terrorists give him an Epi-pen injection, saving his life: they need him alive. The terrorists also kidnap his estranged wife, Molly, and hold her in another trunk. After enduring much emotional and mental stress, Jeremy still refuses to give up the location. After his countdown reaches zero, Jeremy's glass box begins to flood with liquid. After nearly drowning, Jeremy is pulled out by someone, revealed to be Henry. It is revealed that the whole situation was an exercise to test whether Jeremy would break or not. Everyone he saw or was in contact with is present, along with their radios, which they used to play their parts. Jeremy collapses from his wounds and is put in an ambulance with Molly. On the way to the hospital, he sees the Washington monument through the window and chuckles. Noticing this, Molly looks out the window and asks if the monument was the location, but Jeremy dismisses it as unimportant and gives her an engagement ring, asking her to marry him. When she replies that they are already married, Jeremy smiles and asks her to marry him again. As they kiss, Molly handcuffs him to the gurney and pulls a wire from her shirt. Revealing themselves to really be with the terrorists, Molly and Henry are told over the radio that they have the location now that they lured him into a false sense of security and Jeremy is to be killed. As Molly holds a gas-filled mask over Jeremy's face, the film cuts to black.


Cast

*
Stephen Dorff Stephen Hartley Dorff Jr. (born July 29, 1973) is an American actor. He is known for portraying Roland West in the third season of HBO's crime drama anthology series ''True Detective'', PK in '' The Power of One'', Stuart Sutcliffe in ''Backbe ...
as Jeremy Reins *
Chyler Leigh Chyler Leigh West (pronounced ; ''née'' Potts), known professionally as Chyler Leigh, is an American actress, singer and model. She is known for portraying Janey Briggs in the comedy film ''Not Another Teen Movie'' (2001), Lexie Grey in the ...
as Molly Reins *
JR Bourne David Bourne (born April 8, 1970), known professionally as JR Bourne, is a Canadian actor. He portrayed Chris Argent on all six seasons of the MTV supernatural drama series ''Teen Wolf'' (2011–2017) and was part of the main cast in the final s ...
as Henry Shaw *
Tom Berenger Tom Berenger (born Thomas Michael Moore; May 31, 1949) is an American actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Staff Sergeant Bob Barnes in ''Platoon'' (1986). He is also known for playing Jake ...
as Ben Reynolds *
Pruitt Taylor Vince Pruitt Taylor Vince (born July 5, 1960) is an American character actor. He became best known for his roles in the films ''Shy People'' (1987) and ''Mississippi Burning'' (1988). He also appeared in ''Jacob's Ladder'' (1990), '' Nobody's Fool'' ( ...
as Driver (voice) *
Sammy Sheik Sammy Sheik (Arabic: سامي كامل الشيخ; born November 15, 1981) is an Egyptian-American actor. Sheik is best known for playing the role of "Mustafa" in Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper. Career Sheik was cast to play Al Jazeera execu ...
as Marco (voice) *
Kent Shocknek Kent Shocknek is an American television and film personality who branched into acting toward the end of a successful career as a TV newscaster. Because of the length of his journalism career, duration of his broadcasts, and breaking news events, ...
as News Anchor Jack Stern (voice)


Production

Filming took place in
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, primarily
North Hollywood North Hollywood is a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, the El Portal Theatre, several art galleries, and the Academy of TV Arts and Sciences. The North ...
, using the Red One camera. According to director Torres, what drew many collaborators to the film was the daunting task and cinematic challenge to create an intense action film set almost entirely in the trunk of a car.


Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, a
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
, reports that 44% of 27 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating was 5/10.
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
rated it 38/100 based on eleven reviews.
Stephen Holden Stephen Holden (born July 18, 1941) is an American writer, poet, and music and film critic. Biography Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963. He worked as a photo editor, staff writer, and eventually be ...
of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' wrote that the film exists for its ''Twilight Zone''-style "gotcha" twist ending. Glenn Whipp of the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' wrote that the film's twists are preposterous and negate everything that came before them. Robert Koehler of ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' wrote that the script "leaves audiences feeling played" but Dorff "fully commits" to the role. The film has been compared to a similarly themed film, '' Buried'' starring
Ryan Reynolds Ryan Rodney Reynolds (born October 23, 1976) is a Canadian-American actor. He is one of the highest-grossing film actors of all time, with a worldwide box-office gross of over  billion. He began his career starring in the Canadian teen ...
.


References


External links

*{{IMDb title, 1990181 2012 films 2012 action thriller films 2012 psychological thriller films American action thriller films American psychological thriller films Films scored by Brian Tyler Films about the United States Secret Service Films about terrorism Films shot in Los Angeles 2010s English-language films 2010s American films Films set in bunkers