Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

It is a performances centric movie

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

This movie brought me back to my 80's L.A. I loved the sights, sounds, colors, the neon, the crummy neighborhoods and especially the soundtrack. The soundtrack (which I have tried desperately to find) and cinematic shots of Los Angeles alone make this film worth a watch. Despite its aforementioned drawbacks, it possesses a lush decadence that's quite entertaining. A most bizarre and exciting love story with a bitter twist that will break your heart. Gere is at his best with his character, and the way in which he understand his comic hero the silver surfer is almost uncanny, and the love he has is one in which we all desire with his co-star a beautiful french girl. Valerie Kaprisky operates at much the same level: she too looks good naked.. She's beautiful, but has next to no acting talent. It is not a polarising moment in cinema history but, if you can forget the film's origins and hope only for an entertaining movie, it will not let you down. Overall rating: 6 out of 10.

I remember when this film was first released. There was much hype since it was an American remake of a fairly renown French film from the 60s. At that point in Richard Gere's career he had portrayed several youthful virile characters (I guess you can say "studs" -- in "Looking for Mr. Goodbar" and "American Gigolo" and "An Officer and a Gentleman"). I think the critics and much of the public at the time saw this film as just another stud role of his. Maybe this is why the film was panned. I myself don't fondly remember it from the first time I saw it -- somehow it seemed empty and vacuous.I've just now seen this again after many years and Gere's off and on channeling of Jerry Lee Lewis is not something I saw the first time. I agree with another commenter here that Gere actually plays this role of a small time devil-may-care hood to the hilt. He captures the James Dean & Marlon Brando rebel swagger, however minus their brooding or introspection. One endearing aspect of his character here is he's also something of a romantic and I think this is why the young French college student becomes enamored him. I rated this film a "7" and I think it's worth watching. It is also fairly provocative sexually (hot) and this aspect is tastefully depicted.After watching this I thought of the song from the late 1970s "Point of No Return," and Gere's character is heading down a very risky path. I don't think anyone affiliated with the making of this film was necessarily searching for a moral to the story -- I guess from the perspective of being older and seeing this now this is what was brought to mind.

A lot of people I know, disfavored this movie. Only recently I got another bad vote from someone about it. I was so hanging out to see this movie when I was 13. I loved it again and again and again. It's Gere's hyper kinetic energy of a performance that makes it work. He's a car thief, who at the start, departs Vegas, heading to L.A via some ill fortune that sees him accidentally kill a cop. How his gun went off, completely taking out the windscreen, before taking out the cop, I couldn't figure. Jerry Lee Lewis fan that Jessie (Gere) he also a Silver Surfer comic fan, one scene having him and a teen argue over the Silver's Surfer's character I found surreal, but totally unrealistic. Gere's going to L.A to see his one true love, Monica, Valerie Kaprisky, who thank god has her looks working for her here. He's fixated on her. Angry at his intrusion, especially on the campus, a scene I loved, she becomes confused, her future plans. turned upside by this hunk, where finally she has to choose. Breathless is shot in loud color which would of looked great on the cinema screen. The pool scene, especially was a well shot scene. And when the authorities move in, Gere narrowly missing them at a bank when visiting an acquaintance, the drama and action become more pumped up, more serious, with Kaprisky running away with Gere, where inevitably in it's classic of classic ending, Gere's fate is only as we could of imagined. There are many classic moments in Breathless, and it is funny in a few areas, thanks to our lead, but you can take this movie for what it is, popcorn entertainment, and those ill favored critics, this is one flick I favor highly, no matter how many times I watch it. Gere's exploits will leave you breathless as well as bloody exhausted. He really is too much, in a movie you just can't get enough.

At the time "Breathless" was released in 1983, a critic claimed that Richard Gere's deliberate overacting supported the stylised fantasy elements of the movie. Really? I suspect that he was simply surprised by the self-indulgence of the performance, especially when compared with films such as "Days of Heaven", "An Officer and a Gentleman" and even "American Gigolo" – all made before "Breathless"."Breathless" was a remake of Jean Luc Godard's "A Bout De Soufflé" The success of that movie had a lot to do with timing, and forces that were working through society at the beginning of the 1960's. Godard's movie launched French Cinema's influential new wave, which also had an impact on Hollywood.The remake came 20 years later, and unlike Godard's version was no longer timely nor an antidote to the predictability of contemporary film.Richard Gere's character, Jesse Lujack, a petty hustler and car thief, accidentally kills a policeman and goes on the run with his French girlfriend Monica, played by Valérie Kaprisky. Unaware of Jesse's criminal activity, she is attracted to his wildness and the aura of danger he projects.Jesse Lujack as rendered by Gere is arrogant, self-centred, stupid and narcissistic; he has few redeeming traits. Whether it's gyrating to Jerry Lee Lewis while he drives yet another hot-wired automobile or practicing his quick draw with the remote while changing TV channels, extra bits of business are thrown into just about every scene.Although the film has strong production values, there are lapses in logic that are so silly they would probably get laughs if they had been in "The Naked Gun". Near the end, Jesse runs through the streets with his shirt unbuttoned to the navel, clearly revealing the distinctive tattoo on his breast that is the key feature of the police description that has just been broadcast. His checked pants don't help him melt into the crowd all that well either.In "White Heat", James Cagney created a memorable finale, surrounded by police on top of a burning fuel tank. In "Breathless", Richard Gere goes him one better when he disco dances – in those checked pants no less – as police close in from all sides. It is so over-the-top that it almost defies description.Valérie Kaprisky had to work hard to be noticed in this movie. That she does is because of the contrast between her low-key delivery and Gere's attention seeking hyperactivity.It appears that Richard Gere's performance in "Breathless" was a one off. From then on, if there was a trait that typified a Richard Gere performance, surely it was restraint. Look at him in films as diverse as, "Pretty Woman", "Internal Affairs", and "Shall We Dance?" Not only is he controlled but he also underplays to great effect. Maybe with "Breathless" he just needed to get something out of his system.