Breaking In

Scottish director Bill Forsyth (Local Hero, Housekeeping) teams up with writer John Sayles (Eight Men Out) to deliver this crackerjack comedy about an unlikely pair of burglars. Ernie (Burt Reynolds, in a surprisingly subdued, and quite good, performance) is an elderly pro who limps, follows the rules, and turns over a serious amount of coin at the race track. When he meets the teenage Mike (Casey Siemazko), who is trying to burgle the same house, Ernie takes him under his wing, and demonstrates the finer points of the trade: casing the mark, making grease (nitroglycerine), removing wall safes, etc. After a few scores, Mike, youngblood that he is, decides to drop some dough on women and cars--a move which ticks Ernie off. The pair separate, which leads to major problems down the road. This is a rather different sort of coming-of-age film, dealing as it does, with an old criminal who is grooming a young criminal. But the offbeat Forsyth humor is much better here than in his previous outing (Housekeeping) and Reynolds drops the ham routine, and shows that he really can act--with a little direction. A fun film. Recommended. (R. Pitman)