Fairly entertaining.
The Heartbreak Kid (2007)
Rated: 15
Runtime: 3 hrs 24 mins
Theatrical Release: 05-10-2007
Synopsis: The Farrelly Brothers add their trademark bounty of bodily functions to this remake of Elaine May's 1972 comedy, THE HEARTBREAK KID. This time around Ben Stiller plays Eddie Cantrow, a 40-year-old bachelor who is tired of having his foulmouthed father (Jerry Stiller) and henpecked friend... The Farrelly Brothers add their trademark bounty of bodily functions to this remake of Elaine May's 1972 comedy, THE HEARTBREAK KID. This time around Ben Stiller plays Eddie Cantrow, a 40-year-old bachelor who is tired of having his foulmouthed father (Jerry Stiller) and henpecked friend (Rob Corddry) give him a hard time for not being married. So when he meets the seemingly perfect Lila (Malin Ackerman), he decides to marry her--despite knowing her for only six weeks. On their honeymoon in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, he realizes his mistake when Lila reveals her true colors, which turn out to be quite ugly. While Lila recovers from a sunburn, Eddie meets fellow vacationer Miranda (Michelle Monaghan) and falls in love. He must break the news to both women before they find out the truth. After the more standard romantic comedy of FEVER PITCH, Bobby and Peter Farrelly are back to the gross-out comedy that made them famous in films such as THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY. This is the first time they've re-teamed with Stiller since that landmark film, and it proves a far better marriage than Eddie and Lila's. Ackerman may be most famous to date for a small role in HAROLD & KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE, but she's fearless in this part. The Farrellys have always been fans of bodily humor, and Ackerman's Lila gets to be the butt of the joke most often, largely thanks to her character's deviated septum. There are several moments here that threaten to top the infamous hair-gel scene in THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY as far as groans and giggles go. [More]
Genre: Comedies
Starring: Ben Stiller, Michelle Monaghan, Malin Akerman, Jerry Stiller, Rob Corddry
Screenwriter: Scot Armstrong, Kevin Barnett, Leslie Dixon, Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly
Producer: Ted Field, Bradley Thomas
Composer: Brendan Ryan, Bill Ryan
DVD Info
Release:
Feb 12, 2009
DVD Features:
- Region 1
- Keep Case
- Anamorphic Widescreen
Audio:
- Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround - English, French, Spanish
- Subtitles - English, French, Spanish
Additional Release Material:
- Audio Commentary - 1. Commentary by the Farrelly Brothers
- Featurette - 1. The Farrelly Brothers in the French Tradition
- 2.Ben & Jerry
- 3.Other: Heartbreak Halloween
- 4.The Egg Toss
- Bloopers - Gag Reels
- Deleted Scenes - 1. On the Beach
- 2. Fire Dancers
- 3. Breakfast Order
- 4. Sky Diver
- 5. Pillow
- 6. Driving with Dad
- Easter Eggs - 1. Peter's Greatest Pratical Joke Ever
Reviews
Enjoyable comedy with several big laughs, though it runs out of steam way before the end and is badly let down by a messy final act.
Less raucous than Dumb and Dumber and has a performance from Ben Stiller that proves he can act better than most people give him credit for.
Stiller's timing rescues the first half, but his character is so dislikeable that the movie has nothing left going for it when the punchlines dry up, except for some smirking cynicism about relationships.
Whatever else Stiller is, he's not a "kid", and his behaviour as a 40-year-old looks even more ludicrous than Charles Grodin's did in the original.
The Farrelly brothers are back with their most satisfying comedy in a long while.
The whirring sound you hear is that of Neil Simon, screenwriter of the 1972 film on which this is louchely based, spinning in his retirement.
The disappointing upshot is that there is more calculated crudity than joie de vivre.
Lumpy and sour. A few good laughs, but mostly this is just uninspired, and deeply cynical to boot.
Too little soul to be sweet, too little energy to be a gagfest, the Farrelly Brothers squeeze out just enough laughs to make this watchable, but nowhere near enough to make it great. It breaks your heart, it really does...
The film’s best moment by far comes from Eddie’s under-the-thumb buddy Mac (Rob Corddry), who advises that the key to a healthy marriage is to ‘plaster on a smile and wait patiently for the sweet embrace of death’.
Stiller's Eddie is a thoroughly unsympathetic character; whiny, judgemental and utterly undeserving of the women who somehow fall for him.
For all its fluffed moments and saggy end, how many other films this year feature a donkey with an erection?
The sunny setting, attractive leads and reasonably involving story help make The Heartbreak Kid a watchable frippery.
Lively and watchable, but never as funny or astute as it should be.
[The] 2007 remake delivers a lot of laughs despite the fact we're clearly supposed to root for and feel sorry for the cad ... no matter how squirmy or awful his actions.
Bobby and Peter Farrelly don't bring any fresh insight or relevance to their remake of The Heartbreak Kid. Mainly, they've taken a decent comedy and turned it into a...decent comedy.
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