One to miss: The Heartbreak Kid (2007)
April 30th 2008 00:45
Some movies really make you think, while others will move you. Sadly, The Heartbreak Kid does neither. I had high hopes for this film, being that it was made by the Farrelly Brothers who did There's Something About Mary, but was ultimately disappointed. While there are a few genuinely funny parts, the film has long humourless stretches that can be too much for the audience, expecting a comedy, to deal with.
Ben Stiller plays Eddie Cantrow, a 40-year-old bachelor who is sick of being hassled by his father and friends to get married. So when he meets a girl who is, on paper, everything he's looking for, he marries her after just six weeks. It's while he's on his honeymoon in Mexico that he realises that she's a lot different to what he expected, and while his new wife (played by Malin Ackerman) recovers from sunburn, he gets talking to another woman who could well be the girl of his dreams (Michelle Monaghan). The wackiness begins as he tries to keep the truth from both women.
There's a lot of gross-out humour in this film that is typical of the Farrelly Brothers' films, but in this film it's just not that funny. As one reviewer said, "When you've seen one deviated septum gag, you've seen them all." The actors do their best with a fairly lame script; Ackerman in particular in great in her role as the not-so-perfect wife. The ending is unpredictable, which is the film's saving grace.
The Heartbreak Kid is, in my opinion, not worth renting - it's not terrible, but it's nothing spectacular either. Genuinely funny scenes are few and far between, and while the lead actors do justice to their characters, you don't ever feel a connection with them. There's not a lot of originality either; many of the gags we've seen before and they seem to be overdone. This film is certainly nothing special - let's hope that the Farrelly Brothers get their act together for their next movie project.
Ben Stiller plays Eddie Cantrow, a 40-year-old bachelor who is sick of being hassled by his father and friends to get married. So when he meets a girl who is, on paper, everything he's looking for, he marries her after just six weeks. It's while he's on his honeymoon in Mexico that he realises that she's a lot different to what he expected, and while his new wife (played by Malin Ackerman) recovers from sunburn, he gets talking to another woman who could well be the girl of his dreams (Michelle Monaghan). The wackiness begins as he tries to keep the truth from both women.
There's a lot of gross-out humour in this film that is typical of the Farrelly Brothers' films, but in this film it's just not that funny. As one reviewer said, "When you've seen one deviated septum gag, you've seen them all." The actors do their best with a fairly lame script; Ackerman in particular in great in her role as the not-so-perfect wife. The ending is unpredictable, which is the film's saving grace.
The Heartbreak Kid is, in my opinion, not worth renting - it's not terrible, but it's nothing spectacular either. Genuinely funny scenes are few and far between, and while the lead actors do justice to their characters, you don't ever feel a connection with them. There's not a lot of originality either; many of the gags we've seen before and they seem to be overdone. This film is certainly nothing special - let's hope that the Farrelly Brothers get their act together for their next movie project.
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