The Heartbreak Kid (2007)

Moderate Laughs with Very Dull Characters

The Heartbreak Kid is a 2007 remake of a 1972 film with the same name. Having never seen the original film but knowing that it is cited as pretty funny for its time, I fail to see how any of the lame cheap jokes in this remake that caught me with a few guilty impulsive chuckles could've received any reaction other than disgust in 1972, as it probably does even today. Suffice to say, I think that means that as a remake this movie fails miserably, but I can't be sure. So, I am judging The Heartbreak Kid strictly on its own merit, and this movie sucks.

The Farrelly brothers, who brought us Dumb and Dumber and There's Something About Mary, put this mish-mash together using Ben Stiller as its main protagonist. This also stars a disposable Michelle Monaghan and the completely unfunny Carlos Mencia. Rob Corddy is funny in a few scenes as Stiller's best friend but Danny McBride and Jerry Stiller are not the least bit funny in roles where they are really trying hard to be. The only person who shouldn't feel at least moderately ashamed is Malin Åkerman, who manages to be exceptionally funny and overall pretty great in an awful production. The story is basically about how Eddie (Stiller) marries Lila (Åkerman) and finds out after they marry that he made a huge mistake. The Farrelly gross-out shenanigans ensue with a fraction of the charm that exists in their prior films. Lila is disgusting in many ways and really, her scenes revealing these things are all that is funny about The Heartbreak Kid. Soon, Eddie, on his Honeymoon no less, falls for another girl named Miranda (Monaghan) and we are supposed to care and root for him.

I don't blame Stiller as much as I'd like to. I blame whoever thought the audience would want to identify with a pathetically weak and morally deficient jerk like Eddie. On the other side of that coin, we are also expected to enjoy the demise of Åkerman's character and find humor in her pain. Sure, she can be gross with her deviated septum and annoying for her taste in music, but people have flaws. I actually kind of liked her, especially after her bedroom scenes, and I respected her even more after her heroics on the beach after Eddie was attacked by a jellyfish. The contrast I'm sure the Farrelly brothers were looking for was her zany and shallow behavior combined with her model looks. Everyone just hates a gal like that, don't they? That's all well and good but Stiller's Eddie is far more shallow and he is also incredibly dull. Furthermore, Monaghan's Miranda is just as dull as Eddie. It is very clear who the Farrellys want us to root for, but I was rooting for the doomed Lila all along. Obviously, that could ruin anyone's viewing experience.

This is almost two-hours of watching Ben Stiller whine his way from scene to scene with very little to laugh at, and I guess we are all supposed to whine right along with him. This is probably not worth a moment of your time, but Åkerman is definitely a talent to watch out for. May 22, 2008

Stiller At His Worst

When the lonely Eddie (Ben Stiller) meets the perky, young, blonde woman of his dreams, Lila (Malin Akerman), in Paramount's The Heartbreak Kid, the audience immediately expects something to be wrong with her because she seems to genuinely laugh at his bumbling, neurotic behavior. Somehow, even after forty-plus years of chronic bachelor behavior, he is convinced she is the one for him--despite not really knowing anything about her-- and they marry. Of course minutes after the fact, though, when they embark on a road trip on their honeymoon, he begins to see her in a new light and progressively regrets his decision--mostly do to the fact that he meets another woman, Miranda (Michelle Monaghan), and becomes convinced she is "the one," despite not knowing her at all either. Directed by the Farrelly brothers, The Heartbreak Kid is indecisive not only in the individual characters' decisions but on the whole in the tone of the film itself. It rides the line between bittersweet comedy and painfully awkward profanity, all things Stiller and both Farrellys are known for taking on (and doing so successfully) in the past. Unfortunately here, that tired, old formula is just plain painful.

When Lila's "quirks," shall we say, first start coming to light, you can't help but wonder why Eddie isn't just blinded by the love he supposedly had for her only seconds before on-screen. Instead, though, he is utterly annoyed and horrified, and completely writes her off, even though--while exaggerated--those little bits of character, such as singing along to every little thing on the radio, are ultimately harmless. He even leaves her nursing a sunburn to drink and flirt with Miranda at the hotel bar; he is the epitome of the anti-hero, and he is completely dislikeable as a lead. The Farrelly's The Heartbreak Kid is a poor attempt at remaking the 1970s version starring Charles Grodin and Cybil Shepard. In fact, it is still unclear why one would need a new version of an unflashy, morally objective film in the first place. There are no CGI additions, and the star power of Stiller alone is not nearly enough to save this less-than-mediocre attempt.

The Heartbreak Kid is full of tantrum-throwing caricatures, with the sole exception of Monaghan's Miranda, who is not really developed enough to form a knowledgeable opinion. Therefore, the special features on the DVD must be relied upon to offer insight into the direction of said characters. Unfortunately, though, all the audio commentary showcases is that the stereotypical portrayal, mostly on Stiller's part, was not so much direction as a lack thereof. Nepotism runs rampant in Hollywood, but working with your friends time and again has become a worse syndrome, and the Farrellys prove that in the commentary, sharing stories how about how utterly fun it was to be in Stiller's presence on-set everyday. They may have shared some laughs in rehearsals and at lunch, but that humor certainly didn't translate to the scenes as scripted.

The "Farrelly Brothers in the French Tradition" is a talking-heads documentary in the directors' own words about how they got started in the film industry and worked their way up from indie comedies. Of course there are also six deleted scenes and what the DVD calls a gag reel but is really more of a musical montage of the cast laughing and mumbling when they didn't seem to realize the camera was already rolling. The few tidbits from Jerry Stiller actually elicit chuckling, though, and to expand on the humor he offers, "Ben & Jerry" is a five-minute featurette about what it was like for the two generations of Stillers to together for the umpteenth time but finally play father and son on-screen.

"Heartbreak Halloween" is a quick but comical behind-the-scenes look at production on Halloween, when the entire crew came dressed in costumes. "The Egg Toss" is another behind-the-scenes look at the cast and crew, this time featuring a weekly egg toss competition in the downtime on-set. The addition of these two features on the DVD seems like yet another desperate attempt to show that the crew had fun making the movie... maybe so you should feel like you have to have fun while watching it? If more features such as these are what the audience can expect as the Youtube generation gradually takes over, it would be greatly advised to salvage a few minutes of your life and just skip them.

To top off this oddly somber viewing experience, the DVD also features previews for some similar comedies, some of which have not yet been released (Drillbit Taylor), some that are also now available on DVD (Hot Rod), and one that is just a shameless plug for one of the film's stars other projects (Mind of Mencia: Season 3 Uncensored). None of these sound particularly groundbreaking, and yet after The Heartbreak Kid, it has to be assumed that any one of them is funnier than the film featured on this disc. May 17, 2008

watch it on tv

What happened to the farrely brothers??? they probably lost their talent in cabo while filming...
Anyway, to be short, i'm a huge fan of stiller, the farrely's...but this movie is only worth a watch on tv. No laugh around and certainly nothing close to there's somethiong about mary...
HD DVD is of excelent quality, sound and picture are crystal clear...but that's the least they could be on such a media.

Too bad

May 5, 2008

Something about Mary, only without Mary and without much of the laughter

Credit goes to Jerry Stiller for keeping this from being a total bore. Well, Jerry Stiller and a few snickers at Carlos Mencia as well.

I should have started by saying that I hope the magazine whose name starts with an Ma and ends with xim canned the reviewer whose comments were clipped to put on the box. "It's Ben Stiller's funniest movie." What planet does that reviewer live on?! Funniest movie? Most definitely not.

This movie is proof that you can take most of the team that brought us Something about Mary and realize that Cameron Diaz must be a comic genius because without her you just don't get the desired effect. Malin Akerman seems to be trying to channel Diaz but just can't pull it off. Perhaps it's because in this movie, for the most part, it's the female lead that is serving as the brunt of the jokes where in Mary it was Stiller who kept having stupid things happen to him. Eventually that happens in this movie too, but by the time it does happen you've probably given up on the idea that the movie will ever really be funny.

Part 40-year old virgin wannabe, part Something About Mary wannabe, and very few parts funny. That is what is left at the end of this film.

I rated this at 2 stars. It might rise to the level of 2.5 stars, but barely. It is most definitely not the Farrelly brother's best work, nor is it the best from any of the others in the cast (except for perhaps the elder Stiller, but that likely isn't true either...) Rated R for strong sexual content, nudity and language. 114 minutes of running time you should spend on other, better, films. If you really loved Something about Mary you might enjoy this one, but know going in that it's not the best. May 4, 2008

Why don't you like this movie?

Im from Mexico, I love it! why don't you like this movie? its the same typical humor and character that Ben Stiller plays always!

OK! Its not new but its funny as hell!

Do you find it offensive? April 22, 2008

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