In yet another attempt at a starring role in a TV show, Christian Slater returns to the small screen in Fox’s new comedy series Breaking In. Having grown up knowing Slater as the guy who “talked hard” in Pump Up the Volume and was too cool to conform to the social rules of Westerberg High in Heathers, it’s comforting to see him back in a cocky, know-it-all, smooth-talking role.
Created by Adam F. Goldberg and Seth Gordon, Breaking In follows the workers at Contra Security, a company that earns many of it’s clients (and some of it’s employees) by demonstrating just how vulnerable their security is. We’re introduced to the company as Contra boss Oz (Christian Slater, My Own Worst Enemy) attempts to recruit Cameron (Bret Harrison, Reaper), a hacker who’s set himself up a sweet, all-expense paid college living situation.
Cameron is tasked to steal a car from a dealership as a way to prove his skills and earn himself a place on Oz’ team. While he attempts to do this, he meets and is hazed by some of the other Contra employees, including Melanie (Odette Annable) and Cash (Alfonso McAuley). When Melanie’s not breaking locks and cracking safes, she’s flirting with her douchy but sweet boyfriend Dutch, played by Michael Rosenbaum. Cash specializes in strategy. He’s also a wealth of geeky references, including a passable Wookie impression.
Breaking In has some great laugh-out-loud moments and everyone in the cast brings their own quirky charm to their characters in the pilot episode. The only issue I have with the episode is how much of it we’ve already seen in promos. A lot of the jokes felt too familiar to really gauge from a fresh perspective. With that said, it lived up to my hopes and I’ll definitely watch more. Watching a bunch of mismatched geniuses team up to break into places and occasionally steal stuff is fun. There’s certainly potential here for Breaking In to be a clever workplace comedy where crime-like jobs are amusing and mostly legal.
Breaking In premieres Wednesday, April 6 (9:30-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.
