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| THE HEARTBREAK KID |
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| Actors: Ben Stiller, Michelle Monaghan, Malin Akerman, Carlos Mencia, Jerry Stiller |
| Directors: Bobby Farrelly & Peter Farrelly |
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Studio: Dreamworks Video |
| DVD release: 26 December 2007 |
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Runtime: 115 minutes (1 disc) |
| Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC |
| DVD features: Subtitles (English, Spanish, French), Audio (Dolby Digital 5.1 - English; French, Spanish), Commentary by the Farrelly Brothers, Deleted scenes, Gag reel, The Farrelly Borthers in the French Tradition, Ben & Jerry, Heartbreak Halloween, The egg toss
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The Heartbreak Kid, the Farrelly brothers' remake of the 1972 Neil Simon-penned original, is a love story about a guy who falls in love on his honeymoon, but not with his wife. Ben Stiller stars as Eddie Cantrow. He's reluctant to take the plunge from the beginning of the film, so his father (Jerry Stiller) and best friend Mac (Rob Corddry) goad him into pulling the trigger. He gets married, perhaps a bit soon, to Lila (Malin Akerman), and they head off to Cabo for their honeymoon. On the trip, Eddie discovers that his wife irritates him and is sexually incompatible in a serious way.
After their first marital spat, Eddie meets Miranda (Michelle Monaghan), and they hit it off. As the honeymoon wears on, Eddie finds more to dislike about his wife and more to like about Miranda and her family, who come yearly to Cabo. This is the point at which things get uncomfortable for me. Eddie spends a lot of time with Miranda and less with Lila, avoiding the conversations that would make his life (and this film) less hellish in the end.
There are a few good gags here, but both Miranda and Lila (who is weird, to say the least) get hurt in a way that makes me uneasy. As the story progresses, my discomfort intensifies, and I remind myself that it's a movie. Movies, especially comedies, should serve as an escape. When my desire to escape the movie mounts, the filmmakers have failed. I can take this kind of anxiety in short amounts, but The Heartbreak Kid heaps it on for too long.
I did enjoy much of it - the Farrelly brothers are funny and decent filmmakers - but too much of this movie made me anxious.
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