SUMMARY:
Brooke Meyers
(Jennifer Aniston) decides she’s had enough boorishness from her live-in
boyfriend, Gary Grobowski (Vince Vaughn) and announces that their
relationship is over. But there is the little matter of a condo that the
two own jointly. Until that can be resolved, they live in perpetual
tension under the same roof.
STEVE SAYS:
This film is
billed as a romantic comedy. Except for the first scene, there is no
romance in it and the comedy stops about half-way through. Indeed, the
tonal shift of the movie is on a par with the movement of the earth’s
tectonic plates. The movie at its end doesn’t even seem like the same
one we started with. What we have for most of it is a film wherein our
two principals are swathed in tension and sniping at each other like a
21st century version of The Bickersons. (Those of you who are
under 40 will have to ask your parents about that last reference). If
the sniping was funny, that would make our journey with those two
characters worthwhile. But it isn’t. It’s like you’ve gone to a dinner
party where a terrible fight breaks out between the host and hostess and
you’re trapped in the middle of it. That’s not a good place to be...and
neither is THE BREAK-UP.
This film is
apparently critic-proof, as evidenced by the fact that millions of
people turned out for it, despite the dire warning of just about every
major reviewer. No one believed that this trifle was going to knock
X-MEN: THE LAST STAND off its lofty perch only a week after it garnered
a breathtaking $122.8 million over the Memorial Day weekend, but it did
just that. Perhaps people were drawn by the title, coupled with the
knowledge that Aniston had gone through a high-profile break-up with
some guy named Pitt just prior to shooting this.
Because Aniston
and Vaughn are now a real life couple, we must presume that there is
some chemistry between them, but there is little evidence of it on
screen except for a credit sequence of stills that shows them falling in
love. It’s the only time in the film where we get to see them in love,
so savor it while you can.
Jennifer Aniston
is no doubt giving thanks to the box office gods for saving her movie
career, which was in a serious slump after such non-starters as RUMOR
HAS IT, DERAILED and FRIENDS WITH MONEY. She hasn’t delivered what
anyone would call a good performance in any film since her heartbreaking
turn in THE GOOD GIRL. She doesn’t in this movie either. She seems to be
on auto-pilot for much of it.
Vince Vaughn is a
little more on point, giving us another version of his “regular guy”
persona that worked so well in WEDDING CRASHERS. What laughs there are
in the film are courtesy of Vaughn and John Michael Higgins, who
portrays Brooke’s sexually ambiguous brother. But Higgins’ role isn’t
that big, so don’t count on him to lift your spirits very much.
Ann-Margret, still
looking great at 65, makes a one-scene appearance as Brooke’s mother.
There seems to be little reason for her to be in it, other than to show
up for dinner, get a dish dirty and then leave so that Brooke and Gary
can argue about doing the dishes. From that point forward, arguing is
pretty much all we see them doing and it gets old very quickly.
An unrecognizable
Judy Davis is in this too, playing Aniston’s art gallery boss. I
sincerely hope that was character make-up and not the disastrous
face-lift that it appears to be. We’ll have to wait for her next film to
find out.
I will offer this
small bit of praise: the screenwriters did seem to make a genuine
attempt to avoid the cookie-cutter Hollywood paradigm for romantic
comedies. But this movie landed so far off the mark that I almost wish
they hadn’t made the effort.
THE BREAK-UP might
make a pleasant diversion some evening if you catch it on cable or add
it to your Netflix queue. But as far as making a trip to the multiplex
to see it, I’d really recommend against it.
* * * *
PATTY SAYS:
Steve, having read your review, I was
surprised that you gave THE BREAKUP three kernels. It was sounding like
two....one and-a-half. Although I have to agree with you that watching
THE BREAKUP was only slightly less irritating than listening to Gilbert
Gottfried read from the phone book. I kept wondering why anyone would
think that watching an excruciating break up would be entertaining. The
script gives no reason to like either character enough to hang tough
with them while they emotionally pummel one another. Although
superficially charming, I’m betting that Vince Vaughn’s character is a
Leykis 101 devotee and sports naked women on the mud flaps of his pickup
truck. The Aniston character (is it significant, Dr. Freud, that I
can’t remember either of their names?) doesn’t possess the depth to know
what she wants in a man and to choose one. If I were looking for a man
who could hold up his end of a political debate, I wouldn’t seek one out
at a NASCAR race. You can’t change a man darlin’, so you’d better know
what you’ve got before you buy expensive real estate with him. You
can’t turn a pig into a poodle by hot gluing curly hair on him. He’s
always going to be a pig.
I think that this movie sprinted out of the
gate because the American public is morbidly interested in the sex lives
of our movie stars, not because it holds the promise of stimulating
entertainment. People want to see how Aniston and Vaughn look
together. Is there sexual tension? Is Vaughn’s self-confidant bravado
and good humor enough to compensate for his lack of hunkiness when
Aniston compares him to Brad? Why do we care?
Characters are introduced for one or two
scenes and although they provide much of the sparsely distributed
comedic material, they don’t really contribute to the story. Say what
you will about cookie cutter love comedies, when there the script
provides for an alternative love interest; there is at least opportunity
for a little drama about who gets the prize. I frankly didn’t see
either of the principals as prize material.
THE BREAKUP is not a funny film. It’s not a
weighty film. It’s not an artsy film and it’s really not worth
seeing....except to see how Aniston and Vaughn look as a couple. I’ll
save you the cost of the ticket....they look great.
* * *
*
