
Year: 2019
Rated PG
Rating: * * * Stars
Cast: Chrissy Metz, Josh Lucas, Marcel Ruiz
"Boys, get off the ice. It's not safe!" Yeah you tell em' concerned citizen and snooping neighbor. Truer words were ever spoken in the semi-cheesy, TV-esque film I'm about to review.
Anyway, an adopted teenage boy (John Smith) falls through a frozen lake and is deemed practically lifeless by various doctors. His mother unable to menially let go (Joyce Smith), prays for John to make an almost impossible recovery. That's the rub of 2019's Breakthrough, my latest write-up.

Set in Lake St. Louis, Missouri, coming off as sort of preachy (no pun intended), and co-produced by NBA superstar Stephen Curry (I'm not kidding), Breakthrough might be a little manipulative, a little syrupy sweet, a little exacted, and a little embellished. Oh well. This flick based on harrowing true events, still manages to catch you off guard and pack a controlled, emotional wallop.
Kudos goes out to Breakthrough's mannered editing by Maysie Hoy (The Single Moms Club, Spare Parts) and its raw performances from Chrissy Metz and Marcel Ruiz (they play John and Joyce Smith respectively). I could've done without the flick's Muzak soundtrack, stock side characters, and slight Bible-thumping but I'll give them a pass.

Written by Jesse Burleson
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