The Heartbreak Kid (Widescreen Edition) Reviews

• Do not waste your money

  
  By A3M6RVUVZOQZLB on 2008-02-16
  "Heartbreak Kid" is a travesty of moviemaking. The only redeeming quality is the setting: the scenery is gorgeous, whether or not actually filmed in Cabo, Mexico.
  
  The premise: A forty-year-old, never-married man, Eddy is the epitome of the male unable to commit for fear of finding the right woman just around the corner. That remains the premise to the last credit, regardless of so-called plot. Ben Stiller has done better, even though he too frequently plays the loser or near-loser with aplomb. He is definitely a loser in this film even though that is not how he plays it this time. And what is with his appearance? He has aged twenty years since "Night at the Museum," at least a movie in which his losing character eventually wins. In this loser movie though, Stiller appears to have pumped up a few muscles for his sex scenes, but his extreme thinness makes him look awful
  
  As for Jerry Stiller, who, haha, plays his father, he is such a caricature of himself. From his "Seinfeld" days to this role, the elder Stiller looks so cartoonish with his dyed hair and strange fashions. And the outrageous vulgarities he has to speak! Is he for real? The lovely Malin Ackerman is fixed in my memory now as this horrible she-witch. At least, she can act. Ditto for Michelle Monagham, the next heart to break.
  
  If Uncle Tito is supposed to add humor, someone is seriously lacking in what passes for humor. He was not funny. Crude, cruel, and misguided. He is no Rob Schneider. Farrelly Brothers, I hold you responsible for this character disaster.
  
  The ending? Is it better? My question is: Who would fall for this person in the first place? The movie's title implies fun to me. Heartbreak Kid. Whop-de-do! Break hearts! What fun!
  
  The question is: Farrelly Brothers, will viewers hold you responsible for this entire travesty? I hope so.
  
  

• The Heartbreak ... of Spending Fourteen-Dollars on Rubbish ...

  
  By A2LW5AL0KQ9P1M on 2008-02-02
  The Farrelly Brothers have a history of works that are borderline "crude" and/or "tasteless" ... and that doesn't bother me a bit. Weirdly, I thought Shallow Hal was "kind of cute" ... and, hey, I'm not alone in enjoying There's Something About Mary (it's a guilty pleasure). But "The Heartbreak Kid" ... well, there is a reason why most of the reviewers here are trying to warn you against buying it.
  
  It seems that The Farrelly Brothers have caved to the pressure of making genuinely crass, "shock-comedy" ... perhaps the wild success of works like The 40-Year-Old Virgin , Superbad, and Knocked Up inspired the pair to attempt a similarly-themed film ... but, you see, that type of youthful-humor is not their forte. The end-product is not only awkward (I could almost forgive that), but painfully embarrassing (for everyone involved, including the viewer).
  
  I think the most disappointing aspect of this work is that Ben Stiller signed-on for the project. While I did not expect the typical romantic-comedy for which Stiller is known (Along Came Polly, Keeping the Faith, Meet the Parents etc...), I did expect a role worthy of his immense talent (I mean this is the guy who did Permanent Midnight, Zero Effect, The Cable Guy , AND Mystery Men ... he can be silly, cutting-edge, and intense!!). His skills as an actor were entirely wasted here (any actor can play a desperate bachelor experiencing a mid-life crisis ... YAWNNNN!). Ditto for Jerry Stiller (that all of his jokes hinged on some manner of vulgarity is sooooo pedestrian!!)
  
  This film has not a speck of playfulness (which is why most people enjoy the Farrelly Brothers). And, I assure you, I will think twice before investing in another of their works. They have forgotten their audience and reek of desperation. (Guys, you do not have to keep up with the new directors, just do your own thing!!)
  
  In sum: I'm not advising you against watching it, I'm just suggesting that you rent it before you buy it. As far as this film is concerned, it is literally one of the worst directed (no need to delve into it here), worst (re)written (see for yourself), disasters of the year.
  
  

• An experiment that went horribly, horribly wrong.

  
  By A802KOH0U15N4 on 2008-01-27
  This was hands down the worst movie I have ever seen in my life. I would rather spend 2 hours getting paper cuts on the most sensitive parts of my body than to watch this movie again. The plot is non-existent. The weak attempt at humor is tasteless and just awful. The acting is like a home movie that people forgot to turn the camera off and recorded two hours of nothing. I am astounded at how bad this movie was. I mean it wasn't even cult classic bad. It made Army of Darkness seem like a modern art masterpiece. This movie is so bad that the people who made it should be prosecuted for wasting so much money on a movie and not spending it on something worthwhile like another Rambo movie. Wow.
  
  

• What's up with these reviews? Funniest movie I saw in 2007

  
  By A23DDUHT3X8CZ4 on 2007-12-30
  I appear to be in the minority, but I couldn't stop laughing during this movie so I have to defend it against the other reviewers. I went to see it at the theater, and it reminded me a lot of "There's Something About Mary". Of course Ben Stiller's character is a heel, that's the whole point of the movie. He marries a girl that he barely knows, realizes that she's not the person he thought she was (she's very disturbed, in a Farrelly Brothers sort of way) , meets a normal (and I might add very hot) girl while on his honeymoon, and falls in love with her. Just by knowing that plot, that Ben Stiller is in it, and that the Farrelly Brothers directed it, you've really gotta see this movie for what it is. It's not Shakespeare. It's just a very funny, very ADULT summer comedy.
  
  

• Don't Waste your time on this one!

  
  By A3XAQ8QCOOYDY on 2008-01-13
  This movie has a bunch of trashy language. Ben Stillers Dad has a real dirty sick mouth in this movie. There are a lot of bad scenes. I would not buy this movie. It is trash.
  
  
• Horrible..............................
  By A1X21GIGSW7QG0 on 2008-01-08
  This is really bad. Why does Hollywood get a perfect movie and totally screw it up? The original was awesome, even got Eddie Albert an oscar nod. I'm sorry, I just don't find Ben Stiller that funny.
  
  
• Heartless Heartbreak
  By A3KJ6JAZPH382D on 2007-12-13
  The jokes in the latest Farrelly Brothers comedy are fast and furious. It's just too bad they couldn't find a heart to hang them from. "The Heartbreak Kid" starts off promisingly enough, when Ben Stiller seems to finally find the girl he may actually be a match with. But then Lila (Malin Akerman, channeling Cameron Diaz) turns out to be the HellBride of Doom, and Stiller winds up trapped in Cabo with a woman he can't get away from.
  
  About now is when the movie makes a sudden turn off a cliff, in my mind. Instead of keeping Stiller's Eddie as a lovable schmoe who has to wrestle the situation with smarts and heart, he turns into an absolute heel. He meets a Mississippi lady on vacation with her family, Miranda (Michelle Monaghan), and before you can say "40-Year-Old Virgin," Stiller is aping every bad man-sex cliche he can. Miranda's family are played as one-dimensional buffoons for most of the movie, and the piling on of the gross-out jokes reaches a climactic peak of awful when a very large chunk of carpet with a piercing shows up. At that point, I just groaned and wondered what had happened to the two guys who made the classic "There's Something About Mary" and the sweetly funny Fever Pitch. Because "The Heartbreak Kid" is both misogynistic and misanthropic, loading up the stupid human tricks till you wonder if the idea was to make a movie so heartless that you could better understand why Knocked Up and Superbad are so brilliantly funny.
  
  That's not to say there aren't some funny spots. The sex scenes are screamingly hilarious the first few times before wearing thin. Jerry Stiller plays Eddie's dad as an over-sexed lout and gets the film's best lines. Rob Corddry jumps away from his Daily Show life to be a scene stealing p-ssy-whipped husband, and the Donkey Dance is a classic set piece. Even the overlong scenes of Eddie trying to get back into America were pretty funny, as they were some of the too few moments that took advantage of Stiller's good-natured comedic skills. Too bad it doesn't all add up to a coherent film. If you think I am being too harsh, go back and rent Me, Myself & Irene or There's Something About Mary to remind yourself just how brilliant the Farralleys can be.
  
  
  
• less than no stars
  By A230LQD11ZKLQO on 2007-12-30
  That was the worst movie I've ever seen. Not a moment of funny and truly horrible person as the main character.
  
  
• Not nearly as bad as most have said.
  By A1VH1KC9SMTRRR on 2008-01-03
  I'll start this out by saying this is one of the better movies Ben Stiller has done. It's not as good as Something about Mary or Meet the Parents, but it's certainly better than Dodgeball or similar movies such as Duplex and Along came Polly. I tend to judge a comedy by the amount of laughs I get out of it and I had several "lol" moments in this movie. Sure, some of the humor is crude and some of it is done in bad taste, but that is to be expected in a Farrelly brothers movie. I thought the way that Stiller's character finds out all the bad and surprising history of his new bride was very entertaining. It's worth at least a rent if you like the Farrelly brothers movies or are a fan of Ben Stiller.
  
  
• Not Bad, Not Good
  By A4JP4T1F95D0A on 2008-01-04
  This is one of those films that should have been so good. You have a great cast headlined by Stiller and you have the Farrelly brothers running the show. I really didn't get into any of the characters the way I did in There's Something About Mary. This movie had the rough language, the sex jokes, the gross out jokes, but most of them fell flat. I did like the ending though. This is a decent rental, but I would see it before deciding to buy.
  
  
• Get over yourself, it's funny
  By AE9GUE3HHOX3U on 2008-01-07
  I very rarely rent comedies, but I'm a fan of Ben Stiller. I like the neurotic comedy thing so Ben does it for me. This movie started off kind of dumb and boring and I was like, "uh oh....another waste". Finally the story got interesting when he met the psycho girlfriend. I was totally impressed with her performance (Mila Akerman?). She reminds me of Cameron Diaz. But if Cameron Diaz played the part of the girlfriend, I know I wouldn't have liked this movie, she's too over the top and self-aware and a crap actress. What I loved about this movie is the unraveling of how much of a loser she turns out to be. I enjoyed watching Ben Stiller have to deal with her and slowly start to realize what he had got himself into. I was like, "ha ha, you ended up with a looneybird". If you have issues with men, you actually get enjoyment out of seeing him all dissapointed and screwed over. There are some dull moments, it's not a perfect comedy, but overall, "Hearbreak Kid" had me laughing out loud in the genuine giddy way near tears. It's extremely rare for me to laugh, I'm sort of jaded like everybody these days. I think Ben Stiller is fantastic, and I loved Mila's performance, she made the movie for me. This is now one of my favourite comedies and worth owning, it deserves more praise than what it's getting!
  
  
• Dear Mom,
  By A6DOCZ10B7JAJ on 2008-02-22
  Can you please send us some more money? This movie flopped! Me and Pete can't believe it, we had Ben Stiller--people loved him in There'e Something About Mary. He does nothing but these type of roles, what happened?
  
  Granted we ran out of ideas so we just tried to rehash TSAM and some of our other movies. We toned down much of the gross-out stuff like you requested. Instead we showed a hot naked chick, who doesn't love that?
  
  Well ma, me and bro need to reinvent ourselves, maybe a horror comedy next? I don't know. Showbiz is tough.
  
  Love,
  
  Bobby
  
  
• Top shelf comedy
  By A18YBZXMEN6M91 on 2008-03-03
  This movie is dancing right along the edge of hilarious and I-can't-believe-they-just-did-that. If you have an awkward feeling about anything sexual and need to turn the light off before getting naked, this is not for you.
  If you like irreverence and satirical portrayal of stereotypes, you'll laugh tears.
  If you live in the bible belt and feel offended, then you are the reason for that particular stereotype, and probably won't enjoy it.
  Ben and Jerry Stiller at their best.
  
  
• It Might Be A Heartbreaker, But It's No Groundbreaker
  By A2RKI7RPP5CJMG on 2008-04-01
  Ben Stiller steps in with the Farrelly brothers one more time in "The Heartbreak Kid." It's the story of Eddie (Stiller), an unmarried and seemingly unlucky in love man who's just attended his ex-girlfriend's wedding. He's humiliated at the wedding by being placed at the "singles" table (kid's table) and made fun of indirectly during the toasts at the reception. A few days later he has a run-in with a purse snatcher and meets Lila (Malin Akerman). The two eventually become a couple. After much coaching from his father (real life dad, Jerry Stiller) and his best friend and a very brief courtship, Eddie takes the plunge and marries Lila. Everything is perfect until Eddie meets Lila's mom who, genetically speaking, doesn't give him much to look forward to. Things go from bad to worse while driving down to Cabo for their honeymoon. It gets even worse as the honeymoon unfurls. Eventually, Eddie runs into and falls in love with Miranda (Michelle Monaghan). She's the perfect woman for him and nothing like the complete stranger he's married to. From here, the viewer is spoonfed tired Farrelly gag after tired Farrelly gag. Eddie gets into all sorts of situations (some funny, most not) trying to hide his new love from his wife and vice versa.
  
  The film drags quite a bit, especially when Akerman and Stiller are interacting. Sure, there are some funny sex scenes but there's nothing new to them as far as humor goes. The funniest scenes involve Miranda's Mississippi family. From Martin to "Byoo," they keep this film afloat.
  
  Stiller's character isn't that likeable of a guy. Akerman is cute, but I felt as if I was watching a Farrelly brothers' knock-off of Cameron Diaz. Monaghan is excellent in this film and is the only character that I became remotely interested in. Carlos Mencia plays uncle Tito, one of the worst gag characters in Farrelly history.
  
  If you're used to the trashy (and when executed perfectly, funny) humor of the Farrelly brothers, you'll probably get some pleasure from "The Heartbreak Kid." It's not their greatest film, but it does provide a few laughs. It isn't as terrible as a lot of reviewers have stated here, but it is too much of a mish-mash to recommend it as a purchase. I recommend it only as a rental.
  
  
• Sideshow Ben - Not home for the holidays
  By A2ZDPO2G0W81VX on 2007-12-30
  While the 2007 production of the Heartbreak Kid had the makings of a holiday film event, this misdirected, ingenuine script manages to bring the romantic comedy genre to a new low. Heartless and awkward, Ben Stiller is as confused about his sexual preferences here as we are with his lack of sincerity or sense of relationship. An afront to thinking men, women and children this venture finds no value in Mexican culture nor the animal world (in a graphic scene of bestiality). Unfortunately, better cast members than BS are taken down with this sticky man of war and will no doubt regret all but the great Mexican beach location. As for my family holiday movie wish list, I wish I had left this stinker on the shelf.
  
  
• The Farrellys Flail on a Flummoxing Flick About a Schlub Who Turns Into a Jerk
  By A13E0ARAXI6KJW on 2007-12-31
  There is a smattering of laughs in this 2007 comedy, the latest over-the-top concoction from the Farrelly Brothers, but the laugh quotient is not nearly enough to sustain interest in this particularly mean-spirited movie. Ostensibly a remake of the 1972 Elaine May-directed comedy penned by Neil Simon, this film trivializes the original's overriding theme of the have-nots coveting the privileged lives of the haves by focusing more strictly on the premise of a lifelong bachelor who decides to marry only to find out it's a grave mistake and moves from one deception to the next to get out of it once he thinks he has found his soul mate. It should not come as a big surprise that Farrellys focus most of their attention on the humiliation and gross-out antics, but their techniques seem more contrived and their set-ups more scripted this time around, especially when Judd Apatow has done a better job humanizing such hi-jinks in movies like Knocked Up and The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Moreover, the film shows a particularly cruel streak toward the two women involved in the shenanigans. The bloom may finally be off the hair goo.
  
  The plot starts out promisingly in a particularly picturesque San Francisco (thanks to Matthew Leonetti's crisp cinematography) as Eddie Cantrow, the lonely owner of a San Francisco sporting-goods store, has a history of averting commitment in his long-term relationships. Turning forty and watching his last girlfriend of five years get married from the desperate kiddie table, he decides to throw caution to the wind when he meets Lila, a seemingly sweet blonde beauty, in a meet-cute situation involving a mugger. They get married after only six weeks of dating, but the marriage starts to unravel on the car trip down to their honeymoon destination, Los Cabos. One bad revelation after revelation comes out, and she evolves into a nightmarish freak with a free-flowing deviated septum. In a twist of fate, she suffers from severe sunburn and is stuck in the hotel room recovering. Enter Miranda, a good-humored girl-next-door from Mississippi in Los Cabos with her extended family. Naturally, Eddie and Miranda hit it off, and you can guess the rest.
  
  Ben Stiller plays Eddie in familiar manic mode, though his character degenerates through the course of the story from likeable schlub to obsessive jerk. Some of the turns he takes are hilarious, like the out-of-kilter segment where he illegally crosses the border back from Mexico, but for the most part, he just feels like a sketch of a person. Malin Akerman deserves a medal for subjecting herself to a series of humiliations that turn her into an imbecilic harridan, while Michelle Monaghan provides a unique version of the "dream girl" as Miranda. It was a creative move to have a blonde bombshell like Akerman play the one Eddie tries to jettison, but the problem is that both she and Monaghan come across more as victims of their characters' stupidity than Eddie's machinations. By the end of this overlong movie, I became indifferent to anyone's fate as the story spits and sputters in the final stretch. As the final credits roll, there are two random scenes included that extend on the characters, but they aren't worth the wait.
  
  The speedy end-of-2007 DVD release, less than three months after the original release, reflects its lackluster box office performance. Even so, there are a robust number of extras to be found. First off is Peter and Bobby Farrelly's informative commentary track which shows how seriously they took the venture despite the result. There is a decent 16-minute making-of featurette, "The Farrelly Brothers in the French Tradition", which was taped mostly on the set. Three shorts are more disposable - a sentimental interview with the father and son Stillers (Jerry plays Ben's irascible father), an irreverent look at an egg toss contest conducted during the production, and a quick video of the cast Halloween party. Six deleted scenes, a gag reel, and the original theatrical trailer round out the extras.
  
  
• Really good remake!!
  By A3JN3OWL7T81H3 on 2007-12-31
  At first, I was apprehensive about seeing this film for a couple of reasons. First, I simply do not like Ben Stiller and second, I saw the original, loved it and feared being disappointed. I have to say, I was impressed. The charactor played by Michelle Monaghan was so delightfully inspiring and just down right adorable, any man that has a beating heart would have to fall in love with her. It is definately not a polically correct movie in any shape or form, nor was it intended to be. Maybe that's the reason so many are trashing it. But my personal philosophy is and always has been that, "Polical Correctness", is nothing more than tyranny against freedom of speech, stealthfully misplaced in mannerisms. Could the movie have been better? Sure, they probably could have cut about 12 mins. out of the beginning and removed some of the slapstick. But the acting was some of the best you will see in a comedy and for the most part it was pretty darn funny! So rent it and see for yourself. Just remember it was not made for children. Maybe that's why it's rated "R"? Ahhhh!
  
  
• Terrible, that's all that need's to be said.
  By A1AAOIZQ5JNUVL on 2008-01-05
  This movie is not funny at all. They set it up to be a possible funny movie but never deliver. I think this is Ben Stiller's worst movie by far. What a jerk. And not even a funny jerk.
  
  
• Very disappointed
  By A3K5FIXWNTK2AE on 2008-01-09
  It's sad to see that the Farrelly Brothers haven't been able to recover their greatness. This movie could have and should have been better. Dumb and Dumber, Theres something about Mary, Kingpin and Outside Providence all came out more than 8 years ago. Hopefully they'll get back on track with some good low brow very un-pc comedy (The Ringer spent more time getting "approval" than making laughs).
  
  
• Another Winner From Ben Stiller
  By A2Z7JIGRSK4691 on 2008-01-13
  A Really Great Film - typical Ben Still Style Of Comedy - plenty of laughs and a moral as well . What more can you ask for - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for a bit of light cheer .
  
  Only down side was the inclusion of Ben's father in the movie - Jerry Stiller - far too repulsive and a poor actor to appear in a comedy - just retire gracefully Jerry !!
  
  
• Not as bad as all that...
  By A2CBU7VO9YM8CU on 2008-02-16
  I'm writing this because too many reviewers are going crazy like The Heartbreak Kid was the worst movie ever made or something which is just ridiculous. Regarding 2007's comedies, Superbad and Knocked Up were both grossly overrated. They had about 20 minutes of funny parts each. It seemed like the producers just rushed them out the door without bothering to give them a couple of much needed rewrites and still the world has gone crazy over them. Personally, I laughed more consistently while watching The Heartbreak Kid. For my money, The 40 Year Old Virgin is the best comedy to have come out in the past three or four years as it is filled with laughs and has no long dry spells like Knocked Up, Superbad, and even The Heartbreak Kid to a lesser degree.
  
  Does THK blaze new trails? No. Is it going to win Oscars or become a timeless classic? No. That said, it's got a lot of laughs and is definitely worth renting. I suspect it just became trendy to rag on it and now everybody's piling on. The same thing happened with The Cable Guy which is a great film, IMO. The Farrelly Brothers movies aren't all equal but they all have funny parts. If you liked Kingpin, Dumb and Dumber, There's Something About Mary, Me Myself and Irene, and Shallow Hal you should get a kick out of this one too, though you might not watch it repeatedly. If the other Farrelly Brothers movies gross you out or offend you with their utter disregard for political correctness, then steer clear. Frankly, I don't see how anyone can deny that the scenes were Lila shows her true colors as a sexually insatiable, tasteless halfwit with baggage galore are laugh out loud funny. Stiller's immigration troubles are great as well. Jerry Stiller wasn't given enough good lines to maximize his potential, which is unfortunate but certainly not a deal-breaker regarding the whole "to see or not to see" question. Also, I didn't find either of the leading ladies particularly fetching, though I did appreciate the cool, girl next door quailty of Miranda. I guess I'm just asking people who like Farrelly Bros. movies to see it for themselves and not believe the inordinately negative hype.
  
  
• Really disappointing!!
  By A8YX5H0YWTFBN on 2008-02-18
  This movie should have been so funny and easy to watch but it is neither of these things!! Really not even worth watching!! I do not recommend it. I was very disappointed with the ending!!
  
  
• Worst movie
  By A2SGKF4BT5NWYO on 2008-02-20
  This movie is a waste o time and money, not even for rainy sunday with nothing to do.
  The plot is bad, jokes are dumb, the movie is too long just for that story.
  I like to see all kind of movies and I was expecting a simple light comedy...not too much. But even that was impossible to make.
  I usually like ben stiller but this time I don't understand how he was able to do this film...what happened? he didn't read the story before accepting the job?
  One star is too much for the worst film of 2007
  
  
• Ridiculous..and Not in a Good Way
  By A3FNV9Y8ECYPC3 on 2008-02-25
  This movie has some potential, but is ultimately just one dirty (but not funny) joke after another. I found myself checking the time frequently in the hopes it would soon would be over.
  
  
• best romantic comedy of the year
  By A27QSIXH8EREDH on 2008-02-26
  i'm not a huge fan of the romantic comedy genre. not by any means! but my girlfriend was at the video store and called me to ask what i'd be willing to compromise with. she's not into scifi or horror.
  
  for whatever reason, the preview to The Heartbreak Kid popped in my head. i remembered that both of us had laughed at the advertisements to the movie... so i googled it and got the title.
  
  she rented it. we watched it. and i was very impressed. not only was it quirky, funny, irreverent, and sexy, but it was also true to life. it's a romantic comedy suited for a guy. that's a rare and beautiful thing when a guy like me is forced to watch a couple "chick movies" a year.
  
  and the twist ending was incredible and hilarious!
  
  
  D
  
  
• Worst "comedy" ever; a complete waste of time
  By A1LOCI9N4QQ0LV on 2008-03-09
  I thought this film would be funny because Ben Stiller is usually great, and the trailer looked funny and cute.
  
  In reality, it had a randomly incoherent plot, and the funniest bits were all in the trailer. The writing was not clever or funny (the only laughs came from Ben's acting; nothing else at all) and the film was generally too long to sustain such a thin, insignificant story line.
  
  Save your money and watch a different one of Ben Stiller's films. This is certainly nothing like 'Something About Mary.'
  
  
• No where near Stillers best
  By A3HZH4LEEEV8BG on 2008-03-16
  I hated this movie. It had such great potential. And as the other reviewers say, the ending is horrible too. Ben Stiller has such great films but this one could possibly be a career breaker. NOT a good movie at all. The character of Lila, Eddie's wife, is beyond annoying. She has this laugh that makes you want to through things at the TV...seriously. Almost didn't even finish watching. And the attendant at the resort they stayed at was not funny either. The plot line had potential like I said but falls short of achieving. If you are absolutely that curious, spend the 4 dollars and rent it.
  
  
• Moderate Laughs with Very Dull Characters
  By A34D4KCP94ACJZ on 2008-05-22
  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.
  
  
• The Heartbreak Kid
  By AKXV7RFLSMYVL on 2007-10-23
  Short Take: Time-tested humorous material, now in lesser hands, mishandled with perfunctory tastelessness.
  
  Expect to struggle, along with Elaine May and Neil Simon (no doubt), to forgive this 2007 comedic transgression because we--and their legacies-- deserve better. These two comedic titans conspired to bring us the original movie The Heartbreak Kid (1972)--May directed and Simon wrote the screenplay, after adapting Bruce Jay Friedman's short story. That movie, with adept co-stars Charles Grodin and Cybill Shepherd, amusingly captures irrepressible Jewish male angst and falling in impractical love. The current version drops into the prickly directorial hands of the Farrelly brothers (Fever Pitch)--once again reinforcing the notion that comedy necessitates flair, not impudence.
  
  Ben Stiller (Night at the Museum) is Eddie Cantrow, a 40-year-old bachelor who owns a sporting goods store. Following the wedding of his ex-fiancé of five years, he gets vulgar counsel about getting on with life and women, from both his 77-year-old dad (Jerry Stiller, Ben's father in real life) and browbeaten married friend Mac (Rob Corddry, Blades of Glory). With God (or the devil?) smiling upon him, Eddie meets Lila (Malin Akerman, The Brothers Solomon) when he intervenes as her purse is snatched (on Valentine 's Day-- contrived? you bet). Within weeks the two get married and honeymoon at a Mexico resort. There, Eddie rapidly realizes--thanks to Lila's irritating singing with the car radio, butchering of English ("Inhabitate is not a word"), preference for masochist sex, revealed unemployment, etc.--that he may have jumped a tad too quickly into marriage. Following a catastrophic sunburn, Lila stays hidden in their hotel suite. This leaves Eddie time to court the beautiful, and sports loving, vacationing Miranda (Michelle Monaghan, Mission: Impossible III). Eddie gets more than he bargained for, though, when he realizes he is falling into and out of love--all while still honeymooning.
  
  Making his second Farrelly brothers turn (There's Something About Mary, 1998), Ben Stiller perpetuates his Everyman persona by appearing to be a bumbling yet reasonable guy--who, as events unfold, proves as morally bankrupt as everyone else in his life. With this, their 9th directorial effort, I have come to expect coarse humor wrapped in the Farrelly brothers' unconventional (and now mechanical) boy gets-loses-gets girl package. In The Heartbreak Kid, the brothers cast an intensified spotlight on sophomoric behavior--love hurts, they reiterate and so does comedy when bungled with such fruitless ribaldry.
  
  R for strong sexual content, crude humor and language.
  
  El-Bo
  
  
  
• Great Comedy
  By A32IX9CID8OKLN on 2007-12-31
  If you like comedies, you'll love this movie, to me it was non-stop laughs. People should realize that comedy movies are meant to make us laugh and feel good (and they do not necessarily need to be taken seriously) and this movie does just that.
  
  

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