Review: Breathe, starring Andrew Garfield, unfortunately lacks breath

THE true story of a young Brit who contracts polio and is rendered quadriplegic in the mid-1950s, this biopic is interesting, if ineffectual, writes Leigh Paatsch.

Breathe (M)

Director: Andy Serkis (feature debut)

Starring: Andrew Garfield, Claire Foy, Hugh Bonneville, Tom Hollander, Miranda Raison.

Rating: 2½ stars (out of five)

Fighting to prevent a last gasp

The directorial debut of the celebrated motion-capture acting pioneer Andy Serkis (Caesar from the Planet of the Apes series), Breathe is an interesting, if ineffectual biopic.

This is the true story of Robin Cavendish (Andrew Garfield), a young Brit who contracts polio and is rendered quadriplegic in the mid-1950s.

DOWNSIZING THINKS SMALL, GOES BIG

Given months to live by doctors, Cavendish battles the dire diagnosis with the stubborn support of his wife Diana (Claire Foy of Netflix’s The Crown).

It is only with the intercession of a resourceful academic (played by Downton Abbey’s Hugh Bonneville) and his invention of a wheelchair with an integrated respirator that Robin gets his chance to go on living.

Claire Foy and Andrew Garfield in a scene from the movie Breathe. Picture: Transmission Films.

Given the against-all-odds subject matter, it is slightly disappointing that the movie settles for drawing mild admiration instead of winning total adoration.

Nothing to fault with the performances on offer in Breathe, so Serkis and his team (perhaps too eager to please the producer, who is the Cavendishes’ son) must cop much of the blame for an opportunity missed here.

The screenplay by writer William Nicholson (Everest) feels curiously incomplete, hitting all the important marks left along the way during Robin Cavendish’s harrowing journey, but never really addressing the essence of the man.

Considering what the fellow went through, Cavendish deserved better, deeper treatment as both a screen character and an ongoing source of inspiration to viewers.

There are some moments in Breathe where, despite Garfield and Foy’s best efforts, you begin to feel guilty that you are not as involved or concerned as you should be.