BREAKING THE GIRLS

BY CHRISTOPHER HASKELL
AUGUST 8, 2013

Super sexualized, “Breaking The Girls” brings double-crosses and a “Strangers On A Train” plot to the world of sexy twenty-somethings messing with sexual boundaries and continuously twisting agendas. Madeline Zima leads the pack, as the promiscuous Alex, who struggles to hold onto her last connection with her stepfather, despite his new wife’s (her ex) disdain for her. Always convincing and enigmatically sexy, Zima does her best to keep this film running smoothly despite its sometimes awkward plot twists. Agnes Bruckner, as Sara, becomes the protagonist, as she loses her job, scholarship, and housing thanks to the prissy, know-it-all, Brooke (Shanna Collins). She has a personal vendetta against Sara, since her boyfriend, Eric (Shawn Ashmore), has the hots for her.

It becomes Alex’s plan to trade murders with Sara to lose all motives, but when Sara can’t hold up her end of the bargain, things get messy. Similar to films like “Wild Things,” with ever-changing alliances and motivations, Jamie Babbit’s “Breaking The Girls” becomes too heavy to handle by the end, and with one twist after another, they fail to register at a certain point, losing credibility and losing distinguishable dialogue. However sexy this film may be, there’s not quite enough here to keep it feeling more like a made-for-TV movie rather than a fully formed feature film.