TITLE: Broken Vows
Lionsgate
DIRECTOR: Bram Coppens
WRITERS: Jim Agnew, Sean Keller
CAST: Wes Bentley, Jaimie Alexander, Cam Gigandet
RATED: R (Sexual Situations, Violence, Language)
RUNNING TIME: 91 minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES: None
AVAILABLE ON DVD (plus Digital), Digital HD and On Demand October 11
Tara (Jaimie Alexander, Blindspot) and her friends go on a bachelorette weekend in New Orleans, where they end up at a quirky themed bar. There Tara meets a mysterious bartender named Patrick (Wes Bentley, American Horror Story) and they have an instant connection. They share one incredible night together and then he gets weird and clingy. Luckily Tara has to fly home and she’ll never have to see him again. Unfortunately Tara accidentally left her phone in Patrick’s apartment, and he is desperate to see her again. He takes a flight out to Los Angeles, breaking into her apartment to surprise her. She narrowly gets caught by her fiance Michael (Cam Gigandet, The Magnificent Seven ), however she dismisses Patrick and wants to go through with the wedding to Michael. Jilted by the rebuff, Patrick stalks Tara and does everything in his power to make sure her wedding doesn’t happen. He is desperate to prove his love for Tara is the real deal, even if that means killing those she loves.
THE GOOD: The moral of the story is don’t cheat. Another moral, don’t leave your life on your phone. If this film teaches you anything, then it has served its purpose.
THE BAD: The title alone is completely wrong. Broken Vows alludes that one or both Michael and Tara cheated while they were married, but this fling happened before the wedding; hence there were no vows to be broken. I feel a more apt title would be: White People Problems. The stunt choreography was sloppy. There’s a scene where someone gets choked out with a rope, and you can see the rope is completely slack; plus it only lasts 10 seconds. I know they were probably pressed for time, but nobody passes out or dies after 10 seconds. I was expecting the dude to just get up again. The CG effects involving a fire effect are poorly rendered. The acting was not the greatest. Michael sustains a hand injury and apparently it affects his ability to walk. The lovemaking scene was awkward and cringy. There’s some scar make-up on Patrick’s chest that Tara kisses repeatedly, and it looks like Chandler’s nubbin, which is totally gross. What’s the most predictable ending to a fatal attraction type story line with the female as the target of obsession? The ending is so cliche I don’t even have to give a spoiler alert, you already know.
Broken Vows is an updated and reversed Fatal Attraction, which has been done to death. The characters are poorly written, the dialogue is awkward and I would not consider this an erotic thriller or sexy by any definition. If you’re a guy getting married to a bridezilla, then she’ll love it solely for the wedding ideas.
ACTING: B
STORY: D
TECHNICAL: C
TOTAL RATING: C-
REVIEWED BY: JM Willis
