AudioFileZ

I have nothing but respect for our fighting men in uniform. My father served in The European Theatre in WWII: North Africa, France, and Germany. I'd say I'm fortunate to have been born in 1959 with such a wonderful Dad.

This movie is gut wrenching. From the start it is not wholly different than sheep that for some reason are sent into a den of wolves. If this is a standard op to root out a nest of bad guys something seems amiss. The Company which the movie tells of paid a very steep price for sketchy intel. I mean even if we do not know exactly who the Al-Qaeda members were an operation like this one likely is way too costly to eliminate a few. And as viewers of Warfare, we have the luxury of hindsight with no blood on our hands. It is like I wanted to stop watching and, yet, couldn't.

If we are going to send in our troops shouldn't everything be done to insure success while insuring a high degree of safety? In this cat and mouse type war (i.e. Al-Qaeda isn't waging a Blitzkrieg) I would wish we smartly trapped the bad guys instead of trapping ourselves. The people who are laying their life on the line to eradicate the evil element deserve the best planned methods using overwhelming force to mitigate death and injury of our boys. All gave some, some gave the life they knew returning much different physically, mentally, or both..Many lost their life. All are heroes, but I'm not so sure about the ones who come up with these very questionable missions?

Day Break is a refreshing change of pace for a cop show. It revolves around detective Brett Hopper's surreal dilemma of repeating a particularly harrowing day over and over. Like a Russian nested egg, as one day passes and repeats, another layer, or layers, are revealed. While all around exists in the repeated day with little, if any, crossover knowledge from the previous day, Hopper retains everything. He is trying to find the reason why he is being accused of murder, prove his innocence, and end the nightmare of a day endlessly repeating. To stay free he runs from his own police department plus a shadowy group of bad guys threatening to kill those closest to him. Hopper has little time to even ponder the absurdity of it all.

The above premise plays out well enough that as a viewer it all becomes more compelling than hard to swallow. This ain't no wanna be "me too" cop show. It's intriguing and complex. Perhaps too complex since Hopper can actually change things due to his knowledge acquired from the previous day. It can definitely be confusing, but that is almost its trump card of how Hopper might just be able to change things in his favor. That is if he can keep his loved ones safe and prove his innocence. I find Day Break to be a show that set the hook early and often as Hopper makes every day repeat somewhat differently.

There is plenty to like here not the least of which is a great cast. Taye Diggs, as Brett Hopper, is perfect. He brings the palpable intensity of a running man like David Jannsen did in the classic The Fugitive. He's that good. Moon Bloodgood as Hopper's girlfriend Rita, Victoria Pratt as Hopper's police partner Andrea, Meta Golding as Hopper's sister Jennifer, and angry cop Adam Baldwin as Hopper's girlfriends ex who hates Hopper make for a winning ensemble. The other cops and bad guys seem to be just as perfect. Basically, what a great series. One that might have been a bit too clever for the masses as Day Break got one season only. Admittedly, it would be a bit much for the premise of a day repeating to go on and on, but it will leave you wishing for more and likely gladly re-watching the one season several times.

First problem, and it's a big one, is the movie takes itself seriously as something believable. Let's just say an electric vehicle that uses copious amounts of electricity without ever charging is insulting. We're purposely being confused that Eddie is a really bad person and William isn't. William is the worst of humanity and the movie attempts to build that through all the drawn out unrealistic whole attempting to sell it all with over pretentious and boring dialogue. As evil as William is, Hopkins can't sell stupid as intellectual in Hannibal Lector. Really? Can't believe he signed on for this one. It's a downhill affair you may well wish you'd not wasted time watching. Advice: don't watch, but if you do, bail early.