A few years ago, all I could talk about was a movie in which Diane Keaton gets addicted to meth. I’d pester friends and loved ones about it, needing them to see the sheer chaos I’d witnessed. “It’s on Prime Video right now! For free! Go watch it!” This was Breaking Through, a 2003 made-for-television film that saw Keaton play a struggling single mother who resorts to drug dealing to make ends meet. Before you know it, she’s jonesing after the hard stuff herself. Trust me: there is life before Breaking Through, and life after. I have never seen an Akira Kurosawa film, but I have seen Annie Hall lick the leftovers from an empty bag of crank.
Breaking Through is the kind of movie that can only be found today by rooting around the arse-end of Amazon, but it’s also one of the most significant films Keaton has ever made – a mortifying blueprint for the actor’s modern career. Call it the Flustered and Unhinged Diane Keaton Cinematic Universe, where up is down, down is up, and her dialogue has been replaced with yelps and confusion. Today the star of The Godfather and many of Woody Allen’s better ones seems to be endlessly frogmarched into surreal calamities so individually deranged that they sound made up.
This story is from the May 16, 2023 edition of The Independent.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May 16, 2023 edition of The Independent.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
GONE... IN A FLASH!
Oliver Keens misses mob rule when randoms would gather in public to sing, dance or stand still, a great British tradition of silliness that is up there with gurning and gravy wrestling
'I had a very high tolerance for all his salacious stories'
Novelist Rose Boyt talks to Fiona Sturges about living in the shadow of her ‘genius’ father Lucian Freud – and how writing about their relationship has helped her to make peace with it
There's a good reason no one sends postcards any more
When I was a child, we used to go to Llandudno on holiday, and almost every shop had a rotating postcard display outside.
The UK recognising the state of Palestine is long overdue
Palestinian self-determination is the key to a just peace in the Middle East.
Arum-scarum after a savage rivalry reaches new heights
The Josh Taylor and Jack Catterall rematch was worth the wait, and late on Saturday night in front of boxing’s most fearsome wall of fans, they fought to a standstill in Leeds.
Round in circles: a race that even its drivers find boring
The Monaco Grand Prix appeals to high-rollers but on a track where overtaking is impossible the entertainment factor is zero, finds Kieran Jackson who turns to solutions
'Promised land' replaced by ticking timebomb of issues
Rather than joining the Premier League, Leeds may have to raid it for fringe players in the next Championship campaign
Fight but no light for Nadal in likely French Open adieu
The prolonged closing chapter of greats, particularly in an arena as inconsistent and undependable as professional sport, is a true tribulation of the mind.
Broadband rollout plan for 2.7 million homes and firms
Openreach has announced plans to build full fibre broadband in over 500 more locations across the UK, covering a further 2.7 million homes and businesses.
Powder keg: Indian spices linked to cancer pesticide
Two of the most popular Indian spice brands MDH and Everest are facing global scrutiny after Hong Kong, Singapore and Nepal suspended sales of their spice blends last month.
