Nothing lasts long in the romantic comedy Breakin' All the Rules: the running time, the relationships, even the memory of seeing it. It's the perfect movie for those with short attention spans; amusing, entertaining, funny and completely disposable.
Jamie Foxx stars as magazine editor Quincy. On his way to work, his friend Evan (Morris Chestnut) warns him that the newly merged company is looking to downsize in the editorial department. When he gets the message that his boss wants to see him, he's naturally worried about his job, but seems more concerned with the impending announcement of his engagement later that night. Instead of being laid off, he's given the unenviable task of firing his co-workers. Rather than give them the axe, he quits. Then, at the engagement party, his fiancée dumps him.
Playing its trump card in less than 15 minutes, the movie's highlight comes when Quincy decides his fiancée was unfair and writes a men's self-help guide to breaking up. Evan tests out the process on a girl and it works. Immediately after stepping out of the girl's apartment, Evan calls Quincy on the phone to tell them they're going to be rich.
Stuck between these two is an attractive nurse named Nikki (Gabrielle Union). Both men like her, but are unwilling to be completely honest with her. Thrown into the mix is Quincy's nebbish old boss (Peter MacNicol), who desperately wants to get rid of his clinging girlfriend (Jennifer Esposito).
Essentially, the movie is about a bunch of lying, cheating, manipulative characters too selfish and afraid to commit to love. Because none of the characters are up-front about who they really are, writer-director Daniel Taplitz cleverly sets up a string of hilarious mistaken identities, with people mistakenly hating and falling for each other. It says something about the cast's charms that most of them emerge as fairly likeable despite committing so many vile and heinous acts.
But, what ultimately prevents the movie from being fully enjoyable is that none of them are believable. They don't have to live with the consequences of their actions; they're just characters in a movie, and no matter what they do, the ending will make it all right.